Man jailed for stabbing wedding guest with fork during bust-up

A man who repeatedly stabbed a fellow wedding guest in the head with a fork has been jailed.

Edward Leighton's victim, Alan Hodgson, "thought he was going to die" and was left partially deaf following a brawl at Armathwaite Hall Hotel, near Keswick, on 17 November 2018.

Leighton, 61, told Carlisle Crown Court he was "protecting" his wife, who Mr Hodgson had pulled away from a fight.

He was jailed for 10 months after admitting unlawful wounding.

Leighton, of Mardale Road, Carlisle, was an evening guest along with his wife and two daughters, while Mr Hodgson had been at the wedding all day with his partner and two young children.

Prosecutors said Mr Hodgson went to intervene in an altercation between guests after seeing his partner being grabbed, punched and thrown to the floor.

As he attempted to pull Leighton's wife away, the assailant, who had been standing in a queue at the buffet table, stormed over.

After getting his victim in a headlock, Leighton repeatedly stabbed him in the head with the fork he had been holding while waiting to get food.

David Bentley, prosecuting, said Mr Hodgson had blood "squirting" from his head having suffered injuries to his left temple, ear and scalp.

"He had never seen so much blood," Mr Bentley said, adding: "He thought he was going to die."

Mr Hodgson required surgery after suffering five stab wounds and was left partially deaf and suffering from anxiety and depression, Mr Bentley said.

Mr Hodgson said the incident had "completely changed my life", adding: "I am in constant pain which has been the case for over two years."

‪Leighton accepted his actions were "unlawful and disproportionate" and committed in the "mistaken but, at the time, genuinely held belief [Mr Hodgson] had unlawfully assaulted my wife, and believing I was protecting my wife from him".

Leighton, of Mardale Road, Carlisle, was also ordered to pay Mr Hodgson £4,000 compensation.

Recorder Neville Biddle told Leigthon: "You used a fork as a weapon. A fork can be a very effective weapon as it was in this case, and you caused extremely nasty injuries to Mr Hodgson - injuries from which he has been suffering ever since."

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