'Coward' stabbed boy in the back outside KFC

Reegan Smith fled the scene after stabbing his unsuspecting victim

A man who stabbed a teenage boy in a "cowardly" attack outside a fast food restaurant in Nottingham has been jailed.

Reegan Smith, 20, of Caunton Avenue in St Ann's, stabbed the boy in the back during a fight near KFC in Hucknall Lane, Bulwell, on 6 October.

Smith, who was 19 at the time, was arrested the following day and later pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a knife in public in November.

During a Nottingham Crown Court hearing on Wednesday, he was sentenced to four years and 10 months in a young offender institution and will spend a further three years on extended licence after his release.

Smith stabbed the 17-year-old boy near KFC in Bulwell

Nottinghamshire Police said Smith was standing near the restaurant when one of his friends got into a fight with a 17-year-old boy at about 14:55 GMT.

After watching the pair throw punches for a few seconds, officers said Smith decided to get involved.

While the victim was fighting his friend, Smith crept up behind and pulled out a knife from his pocket and used the weapon to stab the boy in the back before fleeing the scene.

Police said the boy did not realise he had a stab wound until Smith had left the car park where the fight had taken place.

He was taken to hospital with injuries that were not deemed life-threatening or life-altering.

Following Smith's sentencing, Det Con Ben Grayson said: "Reegan Smith's actions that day left his victim with injuries that were thankfully not far more severe.

"His violent behaviour and his decision to attack this other unsuspecting person when their back was turned was both abhorrent and cowardly in equal measure."