A pair of knife attackers who left a man “bleeding out” in the street after a frenzied assault have been jailed – with one handed a 25-year prison term for attempted murder.
Leigh Moxam and Donna Green were sentenced following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court over the near-fatal stabbing of Barry Crawford, a dad-of-one who was chased, stamped on and knifed during a dispute over drug money.
Green, 45, stabbed him multiple times with a lock knife before Moxam delivered the most serious blow, plunging a blade seven centimetres into his chest in what a judge called a “gratuitous, calculated and callous act of extreme violence”.
Mr Crawford was attacked in Margate on December 13 last year, first at his flat and then again after being pursued through the streets.
In court, he told jurors he had tried to escape his attackers but collapsed in an alleyway near Cowper Road.
The judge told how, as Mr Crawford lay on the ground, Moxam “stamped on his shoulder with such force it shattered the bones”.
He said it caused an injury described by a consultant surgeon as “similar to trauma seen in high-speed car crashes or falls from height”.
Mr Crawford told the jury he was then told to get to his feet by Moxam.
“As I got up, he stabbed me once but it didn’t get through my coat, and then the second one went straight into my chest,” he said.
“That was more of a two-handed action – and he plunged it. That’s the one that got me.”
Mr Crawford described being unable to move and bleeding out in the street.
“I thought I was done there and it was game over,” he said.
“There was blood squirting out my chest. Luckily there was a corner shop around the corner. I ended up crawling into the corner shop and bleeding out on their floor.”
Mr Crawford was airlifted to King’s College Hospital in London, where he spent nine days and had titanium plates fitted into his arm.
In a victim impact statement, he said he can no longer lift his left arm above his head.
Canterbury Crown Court heard the stab wound penetrated his ribs and would likely have been fatal had it been even slightly deeper.
The judge said it was only prompt and specialist hospital treatment that saved his life.
Moxam, of Railway Road, Newhaven, East Sussex, denied attempted murder but was found guilty by a jury.
He had previously admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of a knife, but was convicted of the more serious charge last week after a trial.
He was handed an extended 28-year sentence, made up of 25 years in custody and a further three on licence.
Judge Simon James told him: “You deliberately plunged the blade directly toward his heart with two hands, when he was prone and effectively defenceless.
“Having deliberately targeted a particularly vulnerable part of the body with a highly dangerous weapon, you simply turned, wiped the blade and walked away, leaving your victim for dead.”
The court heard Moxam had 35 convictions for 53 offences and had appeared before the court for violence “virtually every year of your adult life”, excluding time in custody.
The judge found he posed a significant risk of serious harm to the public and said the extended sentence was necessary to protect others.
Green, of no fixed address in the Thanet area, was found guilty of unlawful wounding and possession of a bladed article.
She stabbed Mr Crawford several times, including in the face, left arm and side, in a “short, frenzied attack involving multiple blows”.
The court was told she was heavily addicted to crack cocaine at the time and was under what the judge called “the malign influence of Mr Moxam”.
CCTV showed she was struggling to stand or walk.
“I accept you acted in part out of fear of Mr Moxam, a dangerous and violent man on whom you depended for drugs,” Judge James told her.
Since being remanded, she has made efforts to address her addiction and has reconnected with family.
But the judge said the seriousness of the offence and her lack of remorse meant only an immediate prison term was appropriate.
Green was sentenced to two years in prison, with a concurrent six-month sentence for carrying the knife.
Moxam must serve at least two-thirds of his 25-year custodial term before being eligible to apply for parole.
