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Two men who befriended a man only to seriously assault him outside a Rushden public house shortly afterwards have been jailed for more than 11 years.
On Saturday, January 13 this year, Colin Conner Mark Jeffers and Francis Michael Moynagh approached a man walking his dog on a footpath behind the Asda store in Rushden.
All three walked along the footpath and as they reached The Railway Inn in High Street, Jeffers and Moynagh invited the man for a drink which he accepted but at about 10.30pm events took a sinister turn.
The victim and 23-year-old Moynagh entered the pub, while Jeffers sat outside with the man’s dog. However, when the manager refused to serve them, Moynagh became angry and kicked the door as he stormed out.
He soon returned with 37-year-old Jeffers and following a verbal exchange with the manager, Moynagh punched her in the face before assaulting a male customer, who stepped in to help her.
As all three men left the pub, Jeffers became aggressive towards the victim, producing a knife and attempting to stab him in the head. He then handed the weapon to Moynagh, who went on to stab the man in his abdomen before both fled the scene.
Jeffers, of Stamford Road, Kettering, was arrested on January 17 and subsequently charged with three offences - Section 18 wounding with intent, possession of a knife blade/sharp article in a public place and threatening a person with an offensive weapon.
Moynagh, of no fixed address, was arrested six days later and charged with four offences - Section 18 wounding with intent, possession of a knife blade/sharp article in a public place and two counts of common assault.
Jeffers and Moynagh appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on January 18 and January 25 respectively, where they were both remanded in custody and their case transferred to the county’s crown court for trial.
The trial was due to start at Northampton Crown Court on June 9, but the pair changed their pleas before the jury was sworn in and the hearing was adjourned to August 16, when they both returned to the same court for sentencing.
Moynagh pleaded guilty to all four of his offences and was sentenced to six years and 11 months in prison for his role in the serious assault.
Jeffers was jailed for four years and three months after accepting an alternative offence of Section 20 wounding/inflict grievous bodily harm without intent, on the basis that he passed the knife to Moynagh, as well as admitting the other two charges.
Lead investigator, Detective Constable Vicky Wiley of CID North, said: “Tackling knife crime remains a priority for Northamptonshire Police and we will continue to work hard to make our communities safe places to live and work.
“As a Force, we continue to highlight the dangers of knives – they are exceptionally dangerous weapons, and sadly all too often we see the devastating consequences of knife crime, not just in Northamptonshire but across the UK.
“This was a particular brutal and entirely senseless act of violence by two men on a man they had only just met. This attack could easily have had fatal consequences but thankfully, on this occasion, the victim is continuing with his recovery.
“Such violence will not be tolerated in Northamptonshire and anyone carrying a knife in our county should expect to be dealt with robustly, and I am pleased that this stance has been reflected in the custodial sentence that both Moynagh and Jeffers received.”
The Force is committed to working with partners and our many communities as part of Operation Sceptre to educate, engage and listen to their concerns about knife crime, while at the same time taking robust action against those people who commit crimes.
Find out more information at www.northants.police/uk/knifecrime.