A man who was stabbed by a gang could have died if he had not been saved by a passing ambulance.
Lee Ashton knifed his victim, who was living in a tent in a park at the time, in the back due to his jealousy that he had begun a new relationship with his former partner. The frightening attack followed a crime spree in which the thug stole firearms during a burglary and robbed a cyclist at gunpoint.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Monday, the 23-year-old had previously been in a relationship with Lauren Risley, with who he shares a four-year-old child. But Ashton, of Elston Avenue in Newton-le-Willows, "subjected her to domestic violence" and was later convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against her.
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In the months leading up to December 19 last year, he "began watching over her house" on Folly Farm Close in Bewsey, Warrington. The "jealous and possessive" ex taunted her over this harassment to her in a series of texts.
Late on the evening in question, Ashton attended the address with two other armed men who "waited for" her new partner Robert Bassnett outside. At around 11.30pm, he left the property and began walking back to the tent he was sleeping in in a nearby park.
CCTV footage showed he was confronted by a gang of three men, with a knife brandished towards him. Mr Bassnett ran towards Folly Lane and was chased down the main road, but "stumbled and fell" and was "set upon" by Ashton - who stabbed him in the back as he was regaining his feet.
The knife became lodged in his chest cavity and he attempted to flee, but was attacked again in a resident's front garden. The complainant then pulled the knife out of his back and began "waving it about defensively".
But the "enormity of what had happened hit him" and his attackers, who fled the scene. Mr Bassnett collapsed from his "life-threatening injuries", having suffered a collapsed lung and a pierced liver.
He was luckily spotted by an ambulance which was passing the scene. One paramedic described how they "didn't think he would have been able to tolerate that level of blood loss for much longer", had the casualty not been found quickly.
Mr Bassnett underwent emergency surgery in hospital, while Ashton "began covering his tracks". A friend drove from Widnes to pick him up and also collected his new girlfriend, dropping the couple at the Holiday Inn in Runcorn.
He also gave this assistant the clothes he had been wearing and told him to dispose of them. Katy Appleton, prosecuting, told the court that this incident had followed a string of offences in the summer of the same year in Ellesmere Port.
At around 1.30am on August 20 2021, Kyle Duncan was riding an electric bike on Overpool Road when another similar vehicle "zipped up behind him and pulled in front of him". The pillion passenger "produced what he thought was a gun" and said: "You know what this is, it's a robbery - give it me lad."
The cyclist tried to escape but was "rammed" and fell before being punched to the face, chest and arms on the floor. His Nike Air Jordan rucksack was taken, while the robbers - one of whom appeared to have a large knife protruding from his bag - rode off with his £2,000 bike.
Ashton was later identified via social media messages sent to his co-accused, in which he bragged of the attack. In the early hours of the following day, a burglar carried out a reconnaissance mission on a garage on Whetstone Hey.
This offender gained entry via the roof and cut cables to a CCTV camera before leaving. Shortly before 11.30pm on August 21 2021, three men wearing dark clothing and balaclavas returned and ransacked the outbuilding.
During this and a second trip at around 12.30am on August 22, they took an air rifle, a pistol, two motorbikes, a push bike and a toolbox. The three vehicles were valued at a combined £12,300.
Homeowner Andrew Kershaw said in a statement which was read out to the court on his behalf that he was left "extremely upset" by the break-ins. He added: "The thought of somebody entering my property and stealing items is very distressing."
On August 23, police raided a house on King Street where Ashton and co-defendant Ethan McLoughlin were present. Among the items seized were the keys to stolen Audi and Volkswagen Tiguan cars.
A video found on 20-year-old McLoughlin's phone showed the pair inside the Audi. Meanwhile, a stolen motorbike was discovered in the back yard and the backpack taken in the robbery and items from the burglary were also discovered - including the guns and pellets.
Ashton, who appeared via video link to HMP Altcourse, was subsequently released under investigation by Cheshire Police. He has nine previous convictions for 18 offences, including being jailed for 23 months in 2018 after he and another yob broke a man's arm in Sankey Valley Park in Warrington by stamping on him.
Michael Davies, defending, said: "He's still a young man - I ask the court to take into account his age. He will lose a significant part of his twenties, and possibly into this early part of his thirties."
Ashton was found guilty of wounding and possession of a bladed article in a public place after a trial last month. He admitted three counts of burglary, robbery and handling stolen goods. Judge David Potter jailed him for eight years and handed him an extended licence period of three years. Ashton must serve at least two thirds of this sentence before being released.
He was also handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting Mr Bassnett or Ms Risley indefinitely and told to pay a victim surcharge. Forfeiture and destruction of the seized weapons - which included a "jungle knife" with a large, serrated edge - was ordered.
Sentencing, the judge said: "Mr Bassnett was very seriously wounded. He was bleeding profusely and was losing consciousness.
"He struggled towards the main road, then collapsed while seeking to attract the attention of any vehicle which passed by. After two vehicles drove around him, the third vehicle happened to be an ambulance - because this was the main road leading to Warrington Hospital.
"Through sheer good fortune, he received immediate assistance. This life-saving treatment and emergency surgery means you are being sentenced for wounding and not for manslaughter.
"You had a leading role in this group activity. It was a prolonged and persistent attack against a man who was heavily outnumbered.
"I have come to the conclusion that you are a dangerous offender. You are still a young man and there's always hope that a person, once mature, will lead a law-abiding life - but only a significant custodial sentence is appropriate."
Of the offending in summer last year, Judge Potter added: "The burglaries were of a high value. Sophistication had gone into the planning and execution of those burglaries."
Ashton said "Robbie Bassnett is a grass" as he left the video booth, while one of his supporters in the public gallery added he had "got everything he deserved" as she left the courtroom. But when called back in by the judge, the woman continued ranting.
Identifying herself as Natasha Smith, she angrily stated: "You don't know what Robert Bassnett is like. He's not a nice person, he's a horrible man."
She also accused Mr Bassnett of threatening an 18-year-old woman with a knife during her outburst. Judge Potter said he had considered finding Mrs Smith in contempt of court, but allowed her to walk free after she apologised for her behaviour.
McLoughlin, of Crescent Road in Ellesmere Port, was previously jailed for 40 months at Chester Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of burglary, robbery and handling stolen goods. Twenty-one-year-old Kyle Ashton, also of Elston Avenue, was cleared of wounding by a jury after a trial in connection with the stabbing.
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