Judge names boy, 17, who slashed 14-year-old in neck in rare move to stop teens carrying knives

A teenager who almost killed a 14-year-old boy by stabbing him in the neck has been jailed and named by a judge in a deterrent against London’s “epidemic” of knife crime.

Rimel Hanchard, now 17, plunged a knife into the boy’s neck and slashed him across the face after the victim had stepped in as a peacemaker to break up trouble in Croydon.

The victim was only saved by the speed of emergency services and the skill of a doctor who performed emergency surgery. However, the boy has been left with scars on his neck and is traumatised, the Old Bailey heard.

Hanchard was sentenced yesterday to seven-and-a-half years behind bars by Judge Richard Marks QC, the Common Serjeant of London, who said the teenager should be named for the first time as a knife crime deterrent.

“This is an offence of the type that has reached epidemic proportions, particularly among young people in the Greater London area,” said the judge. “I have no doubt that in this particular case, it’s appropriate to lift the ban on publicity which would normally pertain in cases of someone under the age of 18.”

The court heard Hanchard, then 15, was involved in a street brawl just after 4pm on February 3 last year, and got into a spat with another teenager. When his victim stepped in to try to calm the situation, Hanchard pulled out a knife and stabbed him.

Judge Marks said: “It’s purely fortuitous the victim was saved and I am not sentencing you for murder.”

The victim’s mother told the court her son “went from being happy, bubbly, friendly, confident, and vibrant person to someone now withdrawn, depressed, and extremely angry”.

Hanchard, from Crystal Palace, denied attempted murder but was convicted by a jury. He was linked to the stabbing after his DNA was found on the blood-stained knife.

Three men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and are in custody after a shoot-out last night. Police tried to stop a car in Leytonstone which sped off with armed officers and a helicopter in pursuit. Suspects fired a gun and officers returned fire before a car was stopped in Forest Gate. No one was injured.