A teenager who repeatedly stabbed a man with two knives, after his dog also attacked the same victim, has been cleared of attempted murder.
But Taylor Bentham was warned he is facing, “a likely lengthy custodial sentence”, having previously admitted an alternative charge of wounding the victim with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.
The 19-year-old defendant denied attempted murder arising from the incident involving a 29-year-old man he attacked on Bent House Lane, Durham, on April 7, Good Friday, this year.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that after an earlier unarmed confrontation with the same man, which Bentham got the worse of, he rode on his motorbike back to his grandmother’s home, on nearby Sherburn Road Estate, Durham, and armed himself with two kitchen knives.
Read more: Jury in trial of Taylor Bentham from Durham is sent home
He then returned to the lane, on foot, carrying the knives and accompanied by his Mastiff-type dog.
The court heard the dog attacked the victim, who went to the ground, before Bentham stabbed him in the thigh and twice each in the buttocks and abdomen, causing part of his bowel to be displaced, eventually having to be removed.
He was given prompt first-aid at the scene by an ex-serviceman, who was passing by, and then an ambulance paramedic took over before the victim was taken to receive emergency surgery and a blood transfusion at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, where he remained undergoing treatment for four days.
Bentham, of Cuthbert Avenue, Sherburn Road Estate, Durham, was arrested and made no comment in his police interview but he later denied the attempted murder charge, although he admitted the alternative of wounding with intent.
He also admitted being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control, plus two counts of having an offensive weapon, relating to the kitchen knives.
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In evidence during the trial he said the dog must have followed him when he left his grandmother’s house and did not realise it was there.
He claimed he went back to the lane to find a ring he had lost in the earlier confrontation but took the knives to warn the other man off if he was to attack him again.
Bentham told the court he had been smoking cannabis and had taken 30 Pregabalin tablets, usually used for the treatment of anxiety and epilepsy.
He said he had not intended to kill the victim but said he had panicked after the earlier clash between the pair.
Following lengthy deliberations, the jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict to the count of attempted murder on the fifth day of the trial.
Judge Tim Gittins said he would seek medical and Probation Service assessments as to the defendant’s “dangerousness”, before sentencing him on the other, “very serious matters”, which he has previously admitted.
Addressing the defendant, Judge Gittins told him: “As you know, the jury has found you not guilty of attempted murder and that will make a significant difference to sentence, but you remain convicted, on your own pleas, to a very serious offence.
Read next:
Attempted murder trial of Durham man Taylor Bentham in Newcastle
Durham teenager with out of control dog faces attempted murder trial
Taylor Bentham, 18, charged after Durham Good Friday assault
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“It’s likely to be a lengthy custodial sentence, once I have the information I'm seeking before me.”
He adjourned sentence until November 27, to allow time for the psychiatric and probation reports to be prepared.
Bentham will remain in custody prior to the sentencing hearing in seven weeks.
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