A 17-year-old boy who stabbed his cousin used a "Rambo knife" with a 40cm long blade, a court has heard.
Tamar Palmer, now 18, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to possessing an offensive weapon in public and wounding with intent. Molly Menary, prosecuting, explained that on September 9 at around 2.15pm, Torekke Kamara was outside a One Stop on Smithdown Road, Liverpool, when he was told by friends that his cousin Palmer was nearby.
This made Mr Kamara, 24, fearful as he had previously been threatened by the then 17-year-old that he would harm him or stab him. As Mr Kamara and his friends walked down towards Smithdown Cemetery, Palmer, formerly of Toxteth, now in custody, approached the victim acting erratically, saying “I’m gonna stab you”, while“getting close to him and getting in his face”.
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Ms Menary said: “The defendant had one hand in his pocket during the altercation, so Mr Kamara pre-emptively punched him, before a fight ensued. The victim heard one of the defendant's friends shout ‘stab him’.”
The 24-year-old restrained the defendant by pinning him against a wall, causing him to go limp and stop fighting, but the victim soon felt an impact on his right leg followed by a sharp stabbing pain. He saw Palmer holding a large silver Rambo style knife, around 40 centimetres long with a jagged edge.
After being stabbed by his cousin, Mr Kamara let Palmer go and the teen ran off while the victim staggered toward a local convenience store, tying his jumper around his leg to stop the bleeding as he walked. The entire incident lasted around three minutes.
In a victim personal statement read out by the prosecution, Mr Kamara detailed the difficulties he struggled with a month after the incident. He referenced having to use a Zimmer frame in public to help him walk, and said daily tasks were difficult.
Mr Kamara wrote: “I get angry at myself and I cannot complete simple tasks. I cant even go shopping on my own anymore, I cannot collect my basic necessities for life as a grown adult.
“It pains me to see my mother and sister hurt by what has happened to me.” After the submission of that statement, further medical evidence was collected, and found that Mr Kamara did not suffer from any life-long injuries as a result of the stabbing.
On December 12, Palmer voluntarily handed himself in to St Anne Street police station in the company of his mother. Kenneth Grant, defending, made clear to the court that this incident was not thought to be related to gangs whatsoever, and was a result of an “unhappy situation of the family”.
He said: “There was a confrontation and a fight, and it would appear that Tamar was getting the worst of it, and he resorted to the stabbing. These were blood relatives, this is not something that should happen within a close family.
“It’s a very foolish thing for this young man to have acted the way that he did. I trust that he will have reflected very carefully about what he did that day to his cousin.”
He added: “It is a sad day for this family, a sad day for this young man.”
In sentencing, Judge Gary Woodall, said: “You do undoubtedly deeply regret what happened, in part because of the relationship you used to have with the victim, in part because of the consequences for your family, and in part for the consequences for your future.
“You just need to at some stage fully own up to yourself, for what you did.” He added: “It was clearly a tragedy for the wider family, your victim was someone who you previously had a close relationship with.”
Judge Woodhall also pointed out the positive steps that Palmer has made since being in custody, including in trying to gain formal qualifications, and said there was “hope” that he would use in time imprisonment to continue bettering himself. Palmer was sentenced to 37 months detention in a young offenders institute for wounding with intent, and was handed a concurrent jail term of 15 months for having an offensive weapon.
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