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Man jailed for Thatcham doorstep knife attack




Christopher Tilly stabbed his victim in the neck and leg at his Thatcham home

A THATCHAM man was knifed in the throat after answering the door at his home.

As blood pumped from his neck, victim Grant Greening-Steer received another deep wound to the leg before being set upon by a second assailant, Reading Crown Court was told.

Rachel Drake, prosecuting last Friday, said the horror unfolded in Mount Road after the knifeman, 45-year-old Christopher Tilly, warned he was going to confront his ex-wife’s new husband.

Beside Tilly in the dock was 27-year-old Michael Gordon, who set upon the wounded man with his fists.

Ms Drake said the neck wound came within millimetres of severing a major artery and killing Mr Greening-Steer, while the second wound in his calf ended his career as a mobile engineer.

She told Judge Paul Dugdale that the drama was set in motion after Tilly learned that his ex-wife Sarah had told their teenage son to leave the family home.

The court heard Tilly, who lived at Usk Road, Tilehurst, had told his landlady he was therefore going to “sort out” her new husband.

He took along his landlady’s son, Gordon, who lived at the same address.

Ms Drake said both men had been drinking when they knocked on their victim’s door and Tilly plunged a knife into Mr Greening-Steer’s throat.

Despite his near-fatal wound, the court heard, the victim turned the tables and punched his attacker to the ground before receiving the wound to his calf.

Then, the court was told, Gordon swung several punches at the seriously injured man, who was nevertheless able to stagger indoors and alert his wife.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Greening-Steer, a self-employed mobile engineer, said he had been forced to give up work because of his injuries.

For a report of the full court hearing see this week's edition of The Newbury Weekly News



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