Man jailed after stabbing neighbour in the neck in Colne

A man has been jailed after stabbing his neighbour in the neck in Colne.

In the early hours of 31^st July of this year, the victim – a man in his 40s – was awoken by banging at his back window and door.

He went downstairs to investigate and as he opened the door, 53-year-old Mark Conroy pushed through the door with a serrated knife in his right hand and started stabbing at him.

As he did that, Conroy shouted: “I will kill you.”

He then stabbed the victim under the chin and carried on the stabbing motions all over his body.

The victim managed to grab the knife with his right hand and shove the Conroy with his left hand back against the wall. Conroy then headbutted the victim, before Conroy jumped over the wall into his neighbour’s back yard.

Conroy threw items at the victim including some wooden ladders.

The victim managed to get back into his property from where he called the police.

Conroy was arrested at his house in Blucher Street, minutes after the initial call to police.

After being arrested he said to a female police officer that “you’re next” and “that’s what you get when you mess around with Mark Conroy”.

He told a second female officer: “When I come back, I’m going to mess him up.”

The victim was taken to Airedale General Hospital before being transferred to Bradford Royal Infirmary for treatment on his neck wounds. Thankfully, his injuries were not life-threatening.

Conroy, now of no fixed address, was charged with Section 18 wounding with intent and possessing a knife in a public place the same day as he committed the offence. He was remanded into custody and later pleaded guilty to both offences when he appeared before a Judge at Burnley Crown Court.

He appeared at Preston Crown Court where he was jailed for three years and nine months.

In an impact statement to the court, the victim wrote: “In summary, the assault has had a massive impact upon me and every area of my life. I no longer feel safe and secure.

“The male that assaulted me was my neighbour and he came into my own home to carry out the attack. There was absolutely no provocation for the assault - I tried to keep myself to myself on the street and I was simply asleep before he woke me up just before the incident.

“I am extremely lucky that he did not injure me more seriously or kill me, but I truly believe that was his intention. I dread to think what he would have done if there were other people in my house as I think he would have just hurt them too based on his demeanour and actions.

“I just want to know why he decided to attack and stab me, but I'm not sure I will ever get a satisfactory answer. I think the male who assaulted me needs to be dealt with effectively through the criminal justice system to show him that his actions are completely unacceptable and to try and prevent him from hurting someone else in the future, which I have no doubt he will.”

DS Josh Boswell, from Burnley CID, said: “Conroy is a dangerous individual who displayed a propensity for a concerning level of spontaneous violence in this vicious and unprovoked attack.

“In a place where he was entitled to feel safe, the victim was left in fear for his life based on Conroy’s actions and commentary of what he intended to do to the victim.

“I would like to thank my uniformed colleagues for their quick response in taking this extremely violent man off the street and the detective who secured the further evidence that resulted in Conroy being left with no alternative but to plead guilty to this completely barbaric offending.”