A man who repeatedly stabbed a stranger in a pub was back in court for wielding a large blade in a park months before the attack.
Gareth Parr, 20, of HMP Hindley, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via video link on Wednesday after pleading guilty to one count of threatening a person with a bladed article in a public place. Iain Criddle prosecuting, said at around 7pm on March 5, 2022, Constable Matthew Cienciala saw a group of people who he believed were in a fight as they were shouting.
Mr Criddle said: “He also saw a person that turned out to be the defendant standing in the park with his back to officers. He had a curved object in his hand, and that curved object turned out to be a metal scythe.”
READ MORE: Thug stabbed man in front of families after row at pub's beach party
Parr, then 18, was swinging the scythe in front of him towards the members of the group and despite being told by officers to drop it, he continued to move towards the group with the weapon in the air. Mr Criddle highlighted that “the officer was particularly concerned obviously about the risk of violence” so deployed his spray into the face of Parr.
However, it did not incapacitate Parr, but it did cause him to move back away from the group. Two or three members of the group continued to approach Parr, including one male who was swinging a plank of wood at the defendant from around ten metres away, while others threw items at him.
Parr retreated from the group but continued to swing the scynthe, so Constable Cienciala continued to use his spray to attempt to incapacitate him, and called other officers to the scene. Once assistance arrived, police took Parr to the floor, and he resisted, kicking out at police but was told to stop and eventually did so.
After his arrest, Parr told police in interview that he had never seen the scythe before, and that he had been threatened so picked it up as he was being assaulted. Mr Criddle said this account was not accepted by the prosecution.
Parr has 22 previous convictions for 52 offences, 18 of which are offences of violence against a person. In June last year, he was handed 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years after throwing containers of urine and faeces at prison officers, which he breached.
In November last year, Parr was sentenced to 54 months imprisonment with an extended licence period of three years for wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article in a public place after repeatedly stabbing Steven Rigby. A court previously heard that Parr stabbed the victim in the back with a kitchen knife, before briefly leaving the pub and returning to stab the motionless victim again.
Parr and his uncle Frankie Parr, 33, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court last year to be sentenced for the attack at the Vine Tavern pub on Elephant Lane in St Helens. The court heard how both men were drunk at the pub, where a beach-themed party was being held on the evening of August 6, 2022.
Cheryl Mottram, defending, said: “He is a young man who in the last few years has found himself spiralling out of control and is now serving a significant sentence.
“He has had a very difficult childhood and a very difficult life up to now, and as your honour knows, what happens in those very formative years has an impact on what choices a person makes as they get older.”
She highlighted that Parr has “settled down in custody” and is seeking education in Maths and English, in the “hope that in time he will be able to leave custodial setting with qualifications and hope for the future. Ms Mottram continued: “Really up until now he has not had much hope for the future, and hasn't had much by way of parental support or guidance, or support from anyone else.”
Judge Brian Cummings KC sentenced Parr to ten months imprisonment to be served consecutively to his current sentence, and forfeiture of the Scythe was ordered. He said: “You are still only 20, the rest of your life does not have to be like this.
“Take whatever support you are offered in prison and subsequently when on licence, I am sure you understand that you don’t want to live your life like this. “If you use weapons then there is a real risk that you will do something very very serious and end up with a life sentence and I am sure you don’t want that.”
Judge Cummings also said he wanted to commend Constable Cienciala, stating “he was very brave, he was on his own in a very volatile situation.”
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