Man jailed for stabbing neighbour in a row over door numbers

A Scarborough man knifed his neighbour after apparently blacking out on a cocktail of drink and medication drugs.
Dean Waddington, 32,Dean Waddington, 32,
Dean Waddington, 32,

Dean Waddington, 32, was apparently so oblivious to stabbing the victim - who suffered a “horrendous” wound - that he still didn’t know why he’d done it, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor David Brooke said the two men had been chatting quite amicably in the run-up to the “mysterious” incident at a block of flats on Victoria Road, Scarborough, where they were both tenants.

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It began when Waddington went upstairs and knocked on the victim’s door. The man answered the knock whereupon Waddington launched into a bizarre diatribe about the numbers on the doors in the apartment block “being wrong”.

“He (Waddington) said come downstairs and I’ll show you,” added Mr Brooke, who explained that it was common practice for tenants in the block to swap flats but keep the same room numbers so it didn’t affect their benefits.

The victim went downstairs and was about to leave the building when he felt Waddington push past him.

“The victim walked out of the building to meet a friend and felt his left-hand side (which was) hot and wet. He put his hand down and saw blood,” said Mr Brooke.

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He suffered a “gaping” one-inch wound and large swelling to the side of his body. He went straight to the local police station to report the matter and needed hospital treatment. Firearms officers were sent to the scene at about 9.20pm and forced Waddington’s door open.

“The defendant came out and began remonstrating with officers. He was intoxicated,” said Mr Brooke.

Officers found the blood-stained knife on the floor next to Waddington’s bed. There were also blood stains on his shirt.

He was arrested and charged with wounding with intent. He ended up pleading guilty to wounding without intent and appeared for sentence via video link on Friday after being remanded in custody since the incident on December 19 last year.

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Mr Brooke said despite the “horrendous” wound suffered by the victim, he had made a full recovery.

He added that Waddington had 17 previous convictions for 26 offences including one for robbery in 2006 when a knife was used, resulting in a two-year prison sentence. He also had previous for ABH and assaulting a police officer.

Defence barrister Patricia Doherty said Waddington, who had “alcohol issues”, couldn’t remember the stabbing in the flats because he had been drinking heavily and was on a lot of medication for a range of health issues including diabetes.

“He said the reason he had the knife was because he had been in the communal kitchen making sandwiches when he saw the complainant, but he can’t recall why he did it,” she added.

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Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said the circumstances surrounding the stabbing were “as mysterious as they are troubling”.

Jailing Waddington for 22 months, Mr Stubbs told him: “For reasons you cannot explain, and without saying a word to him, you stabbed a completely defenceless man, causing a horrendous-looking, gaping wound.”