Man jailed for attack with weapon in lane

Donovan Kitching was jailed for seven years for the attack on Cinder Path

A violent offender who attacked a man who had been lured to a lane in the Isle of Man's capital has been jailed for seven years.

Donovan Kitching, 40, swung an "unidentified weapon" at the victim's head in August last year, leaving him needing stitches to his hand and ear.

Douglas Courthouse heard the man had been lured to Cinder Path by Michael Glover, who was jailed for three years in August, for what he thought was a drugs deal.

Donovan has a string of previous convictions, including causing the death of a woman by dangerous driving in 2014, which saw him handed a 10-year jail term,

The court heard that Glover had said that while the pair had planned to give the other man some "smacks", he had not known Kitching would bring a weapon to the attack on 19 August last year.

'Highly dangerous'

The court was told Kitching had a history of violent offending and was in breach of a suspended sentence supervision order, handed down in May last year for resisting police and two counts of assaulting police, when the latest attack took place.

He was found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after a trial in May.

In a victim impact statement previously read to the court, the man said he had been unable to work since the attack and had experienced family issues.

Representing himself at the hearing, Kitching was removed from the court after interrupting the proceedings on several occasions.

Handing down the sentence, Deemster Graeme Cook said although it "could not be proved" what the weapon was, he found it to be "highly dangerous".