Pair are sentenced after Berry Hill stabbing

Leigh Papps, left, and George Gadsby were sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court on Tuesday

Two men have been sentenced after a man was seriously injured in a stabbing.

Nicholas Hughes was stabbed seven times during the attack in Berry Hill, near Coleford, Gloucestershire, in August.

George Gadsby, 26, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to wounding Mr Hughes with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm, while Leigh Papps, 35, of Greenfield Road, Joys Green, admitted assisting Gadbsy during the attack.

Both were sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court on Tuesday.

Papps also admitted possessing a quantity of cocaine on 19 March 2023, when he was searched in Llandovery, Wales.

Prosecutor Mary Cowe told the court that Mr Hughes, who admitted using drugs, was at his friend's home in Hillcrest Road before the attack and "anticipated Papps would make an appearance".

Ms Cowe said Mr Hughes then spoken to a unknown man on the phone and encouraged him to come round.

She said CCTV later showed a woman leaving the property and Gadsby and Papps arriving, while Mr Hughes lay "in wait".

'Stabbed in the face'

However, Gadbsy came armed with a knife and after a heated argument, stabbed Mr Hughes in the face before inflicting further wounds to his chest and abdomen.

The court was told how Mr Hughes then ran from the property towards the nearby Gamekeepers Inn, but collapsed due to his injuries.

He was later taken to Southmead hospital in Bristol, where he spent more than two weeks being treated for injuries which included a deep wound to the right side of his face, a five-centimetre wound to his forearm, two wounds to his chest and two fractured ribs.

Mr Hughes also had a cut on his right kidney, a collapsed lung and had to undergo a blood transfusion.

Following the attack, Ms Cowe said a woman, who Gadsby had called on the phone, recorded a conversation in which he came across "nonchalant and unconcerned".

The incident happened in Berry Hill in August 2023

Ms Cowe said: "He was asked where he had stabbed Mr Hughes. He replied 'In his belly. He has a nice slice down his cheek as well'."

Defending Gadsby, Morgan Pirone, said it was "only a matter of luck" that the attack was not fatal.

Mr Pirone said a report to the court by a psychiatrist about Gadsby's mental health had concluded that he suffers from "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and is on the autism spectrum".

Gadsby's actions were "born out of his medical conditions", Mr Pirone added.

'Spectacularly stupid decision'

However, Judge Ian Lawrie KC said Gadsby "went equipped with a knife" and that "it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision."

"I accept you are suffering from a number of mental health issues and I have seen the specialist's report into your condition which goes to the heart of you did.

"Your thought processes were so screwed that you ended up making a spectacularly stupid decision to stab a man seven times," he added.

Gadsby was jailed for five years and seven months, while Papps was sentenced to a jail term of eight months, which he has already served.

Both Gadsby and Papps were also made subject to a five-year restraining order preventing them from contacting the victim.