A MAN struck a delivery driver on the head with a ‘Rambo knife’ after he was frustrated his takeaway meal had arrived late, a court has heard.
Cavner Kelsall, 20, of Kirkgate, Shipley, ordered a takeaway through Uber Eats which was delayed in being delivered to his home.
When the takeaway did arrive, the delivery driver, who was accompanied in his vehicle by another man, contacted Kelsall to meet him outside his flat to collect his order.
Kelsall grabbed the food, causing it to fall to the ground. Kelsall then attacked the victim by punching out with his right arm.
During the confrontation, Kelsall pulled out a large machete, measuring at least 50cm, from his waistband and attacked the man with the weapon. The heavy blow to the man caused him to fear for his life, Bradford Crown Court was told on April 21.
A witness said she had seen the heated argument between the men. She saw Kelsall pull punches towards the victim. Kelsall was seen running out of his first-floor flat and grabbing an object from outside.
The attack victim suffered a 3cm wound to his head which required four stitches when he was treated at Bradford Royal Infirmary. This has left the man with a visible scar.
The man no longer works as a delivery driver as he does not feel safe in the role following this incident. He is also taking anti-depressants as a result of the attack.
At a subsequent police interview, Kelsall admitted to punching the victim and hiding what he described as a ‘Rambo knife’.
The incident took place just outside Kelsall’s first-floor flat on Kirkgate, Shipley, at around 5pm on December 8 last year.
Kelsall faced two charges of section 18 wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
He was sentenced to a total of four years detention in a youth offenders’ institution for the two charges, which he pleaded guilty to at an earlier hearing.
Kelsall was handed a four-year sentence for the wounding with intent charge and a sentence of 18 months, to run concurrently, for the count of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
He was told that he will be released on licence once he has served the first half of his sentence.
Kelsall had six previous convictions for 11 offences, all committed while he was a youth. These included convictions for assault in 2017 and 2018.
The court was told Kelsall had fallen victim to assaults himself during his youth and had become involved with ‘the wrong crowd’ and was also a cannabis user.
Abigail Langford, mitigating, told the court: “He was able to recite that when he was 14 to 16, he was hanging around with the wrong crowd, essentially.
“His lifestyle was dominated by bravado. He said that he and his friends were a bunch of local authority kids with nothing to live for. He is young.”
She added that Kelsall branded knife crime as ‘disgusting’ in his pre-sentence report. She added Kelsall was sorry for the attack and his deep-seated paranoia led him to think that his takeaway food order had been cancelled.
Sentencing, Judge Anthony Hawks told Kelsall that he could have killed the victim of his machete attack.
The judge said: “You had ordered a take-away meal and were irritated that it was late.
“You got into a confrontation with a man that was doing no more than carrying out a public service, delivering food to your door.
“You were seen aiming blows at the complainant and hit him on the head with a knife.
“You were lucky you did not kill him. He received a nasty wound to his head.
“You spent a lot of time saying how you have been affected by assaults on yourself and how paranoid you had become.
“You are only 20 Mr Kelsall, you need to think very seriously about where your life is going.
“You have built up a habit of getting involved in violent and confrontational situations.
“You have now been convicted of a very serious offence. If you commit an offence like this again, you will go to prison for a very long period of time.”