3:07pm Thursday 11th March 2010
A Clacton man who stabbed a neighbour in a row over a dog has been jailed for eight and a half years.
Graham Nesbitt, 34, formerly of Empire Court, Warwick Road, Clacton, denied attacking 48-year-old gas fitter Raymond Mayo, blaming it on two unnamed men.
A jury at Chelmsford Crown Court found Nesbitt, now of no fixed address, guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He was cleared of stealing Mr Mayo’s mobile phone.
Speaking of the attack, on January 13 last year, Judge David Turner QC said Nesbitt had targeted Mr Mayo because he was irritated and wanted to teach him a lesson.
The judge added: “You made open threats about what you intended, adding ugly bravado to your aggression.”
The judge said Nesbitt, known as Nez, who has 28 convictions, involving 168 offences over the space of 17 years, laid in wait, then pounced “violently and mercilessly”, stabbing Mr Mayo.
The court heard Nesbitt and Mr Mayo had words a few weeks before about dogs being kept on leads. On the day of the attack, Mr Mayo’s dog barked at Nesbitt and Nesbitt allegedly threatened to cut the animal and stab Mr Mayo. Minutes later, the victim was stabbed in the back in Quay Road, on his way back from a convenience store in Old Road. He was also stabbed through his hand, as he tried to grab the knife, and slashed across the neck.
Two teenage girls witnessed the attack and one later identified Nesbitt as the culprit. The victim’s blood was found on Nesbitt’s trousers.
Steel fitter Nesbitt denied threatening Mr Mayo. He said two men, to whom he had been talking earlier, ran past him. One was covered in blood, he claimed, and had told him: “We just done a geezer in Quay Road”.
Nesbitt had already spent 14 months in jail awaiting trial, after his original trial was stopped last July.
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