"I'll chop the lot of yous": Thug, 22, GUILTY of stabbing boy, 12, on bouncy castle at birthday party
19.09.2023 - 06:27
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A man aged 22 has been convicted of stabbing a 12-year-old boy on a bouncy castle at his younger sister's birthday party.
Jurors took just 20 minutes to find Mason Clague guilty of wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm after a trial - a charge he denied. Clague was cleared of possession of a bladed article in a public place.
The schoolboy was repeatedly knifed in the back garden of his gran's home. Friends and family screamed in terror as the horrifying incident unfolded on Southport Road in Bootle, Merseyside, on April 7, 2021.
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Clague's family were seen in tears as the unanimous verdict was delivered by the jury at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday. He will be sentenced next Wednesday, September 27. Recorder David Knifton KC, who presided over the trial, released him on bail until this date.
Prosecutor Charlotte Atherton, opening the case to the jury last week, said the victim was chased into the back garden of his gran's house, where his sister's eighth birthday party was taking place, by two men. He was then punched to the ground and stabbed repeatedly to the leg and buttocks by the attackers, said to have been Clague and an unknown man, reports The Echo.
The boy and a 14-year-old friend had previously left the address to buy a drink from a nearby corner shop at around 2pm, then began "larking about" and throwing stones on a nearby grassy area. Clague was said to be sat in his car on the street before getting out, and became "very angry" when some of the rocks landed close to him.
He then ran into his own home, also on