Teen stabbed boy, 14, after social media threats

The judge said Alfie Clark walked away unconcerned after stabbing his 14-year-old victim

A teenager who stabbed a boy he had previously called a "dirty little immigrant" has been jailed.

Alfie Clark was walking his dog with his mother in Pontefract on 25 May when he attacked the 14-year-old, who was out celebrating his 13-year-old girlfriend's birthday.

Eighteen-year-old Clark, of Eastbourne Terrace, Pontefract, had also previously threatened to kill the boy on social media and told him he would "break his knees in front of his family", Leeds Crown Court heard.

He pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and was sentenced to four years and three months at the same court on Monday. He was jailed for 21 months, to run concurrently, after admitting possession of a bladed article.

Clark was also handed a 10-year restraining order banning him from contacting the victim or the victim's girlfriend.

'Without warning'

The court heard Clark and the victim fell out on social media after Clark made comments "of a sexual nature" about the victim's girlfriend and the victim told Clark to "stop saying weird stuff".

The social media conversation escalated, with other youngsters getting involved, and it culminated in Clark boasting he was going to "undig a gun" to kill the victim with and using a racial slur against him.

Anthony Moore, prosecuting, said in the social media conversation leading up to the attack, Clark wrote, among other things: 'I will kill him, the dirty little immigrant'.

The court was told that on the evening of the attack, Clark and his mother came across the victim and his girlfriend by chance and Clark "immediately and without warning" pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim three times - twice in the ribs and once on the arm.

After the attack, all four kept walking and the victim said he could hear laughing behind him.

He returned home where an ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital, where he required surgery due to a blood clot.

In an impact statement read out in court, the victim said he now suffered from anxiety, had physical and emotional scars and "no longer trusts adults".

'Life or death results'

Passing sentence, Judge Robin Mairs said: "This case highlights the danger of young men carrying knives, which they invariably produce and use.

"This can have catastrophic life or death results. It is sheer luck this case did not prove to be fatal.

"There was a significant degree of planning and you walked away unconcerned - it was not a spur of the moment decision."

He said aggravating factors included that the attack was racially motivated, the victim was four years younger and, therefore, "vulnerable" and the fact it also happened in front of a child - the victim's girlfriend.

Clark's age and "immaturity" were the only reasons the sentence was not longer, Judge Mairs added.

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