A 15-YEAR-OLD boy who stabbed his grandfather five times during an argument has walked free from court after a judge described the case as “exceptional”.

Jane Hunt

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy who stabbed his grandfather five times during an argument has walked free from court after a judge described the case as “exceptional”.

Sentencing the boy to a 12 month supervision order Ipswich Crown Court judge, John Holt said that anyone committing such a serious offence of violence could normally expect an immediate custodial sentence.

However, he said in this case the boy's grandfather, who had caused ill-feeling in the family by leaving his wife for another woman, had gone to a house in the Southgate Street area of Bury St Edmunds armed with a flick-knife and had started the violence with a head-butt.

The boy managed to wrestle the flick-knife off his grandfather and “in the heat of the moment” had started punching him, forgetting he still had the knife in his hand.

Although the 57-year-old grandfather suffered five stab wounds to his back and abdomen none of them were serious and only required a total of five stitches.

Judge Holt said the boy, who had never been in any trouble before, came from a good home and was regarded as being at low risk of reoffending.

He described the circumstances of the case as unusual and said he felt justified in taking an exceptional course.

The boy, who cannot be identified because of his age, admitted unlawfully wounding his grandfather in October last year.

Neil Macaulay told the court that the fight between the boy and his grandfather was witnessed by shocked passers-by who called the police after hearing the grandfather shouting for help and saying he had been stabbed.

One woman had jumped out of her car and tried to get between the pair and shortly afterwards the grandfather had collapsed on to a low wall and when he lifted his top she could see he was bleeding heavily from two stab wounds.

When police arrived at the scene they found the schoolboy standing in the street with no shoes on and covered in blood.

He told officers where he had dropped the knife and said he thought his grandfather was breaching a court order by going to the house where the trouble had started.

He also said that his grandfather had left his grandmother for another woman and that he had lost his temper when he saw him at the door.

Rex Bryan for the boy said he had been in a “complete panic” after his grandfather produced the knife and because of his age had lacked the maturity to deal with a situation that hadn't been of his making.

“He comes from a good home and other than this incident appears to do credit to that good home,” said Mr Bryan.