Man who stabbed cyclist jailed for 6 years

A Southampton man has been jailed for six years and two months, after pleading guilty to wounding with intent, having an article with a blade or point, assault on an emergency worker, and four counts of damaging property.

Samuel Woodford, 31 years old, currently residing at HMP Winchester, appeared at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday 22 September.

All the charges were related to an incident on 6 July this year, on London Road.

Shortly before 10am, the victim, a 40 year old male who had been riding his bike, became involved in an altercation with Mr Woodford.

Mr Woodford took a weapon out of his pocket and stabbed the man 3 times, on his upper arm, upper leg and his abdomen before taking the man’s bike and fleeing.

The victim managed to enter a nearby business, asking for help, thankfully the police and ambulance were called.

A few minutes later, police officers attending found the man outside a convenience store. He was taken to hospital and received emergency surgery for the wound to his abdomen.

The police tracked down Woodford throughout the day, eventually finding him at an address in Parsonage Road, later that evening.

Mr Woodford had climbed onto the roof of the property, refusing to come down. Whilst on the roof, he began throwing tiles. Two cars were damaged and an officer was hit, resulting in him going to A&E for treatment.

Mr Woodford finally came down from the roof at around 10:30, but not before he had pushed a chimney off the roof top.

In their closing remarks, the judge described Woodford as a ‘dangerous’ individual that could ‘easily have killed’ the victim, who ‘could have bled out on the street’.

He added that the sentence reflected the fact Woodford represented ‘a significant risk of serious harm to the public’.

Officer in the case, PC Eloise Prowting from Western Investigations, said: “Woodford’s actions that day could have quite easily ended in tragedy and how he behaved before his arrest was completely unacceptable, putting both the public and my colleagues in further danger.

“I hope this sentence shows that we will not tolerate serious violence in our city and will do all in our power to ensure offenders are brought to justice.”