Man jailed after attacking man with Stanley knife in Clay Cross

A man has been jailed for more than four years after he attacked a man with a knife following a disagreement at a Clay Cross pub last May.

Kelvin Fletcher was caught on CCTV in the town centre purchasing a Stanley knife from a shop, shortly after he was involved in a dispute with another man in the Nags Head pub in Market Street on 20 May 2021.

The 41-year-old then returned to Market Street and confronted the victim in the street before brandishing the knife and slashing him across the face. The victim required surgery after the attack, which caused a deep laceration to his nose damaging the septum and a nasal artery.

Fletcher of Oakdale Close, Danesmoor, was arrested later that day after handing himself in at Clay Cross police station.

He was subsequently charged and pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article at Derby Crown Court on 3 September.

He was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months imprisonment at the court, earlier today Wednesday 5 January.

Detective Staff Investigator, David Wright said:

“The level of pre-meditation involved in this attack shows that Fletcher intended to cause serious harm to the victim in this case.

“He left the pub after the disagreement and visited his friend’s house in a rage, ranting about the victim, before going directly to a shop to buy a knife.

“He then returned to Market Street and launched an unprovoked attack on the victim, in the middle of the day with lots of people around including families with young children.

“Today’s sentence befits the seriousness of this crime and I hope will act as a deterrent to others, who think it is acceptable to use knives as a weapon.”

We are sharing today’s sentencing as part of Operation Wintershield a force wide, multi-agency operation which focuses on reducing knife crime and serious violent crime across the county.

The operation will run until the end of February 2022 and for its duration officers and staff will be sharing the excellent work that is going on to tackle the root cause of these often-devastating crimes.

You can follow our work on social media by following #OpWintershield