A Hove man has been jailed after chasing another man through the streets of Portslade in his car, pursuing him into a shop and then stabbing him with a pair of scissors.
Ryan Mclean, 39, “exploded with anger” when his victim, Louis Theodorou, 29, insulted him, calling him a rapist, Chichester Crown Court was told.
Theodorou also threatened to burn down Mclean’s home – “and do a proper job” – days after a woman had been jailed for an arson attack on the property.
Isabel Delamere, prosecuting, said that the attack in the Old Village followed a car chase at about midday on Sunday 27 February.
A silver BMW estate was seen chasing a grey Volkswagen at speed in High Street, Drove Road and South Street.
The chase continued on foot, ending in the shop, the Village Convenience Store, in South Street. The shop was formerly known as Rishi News and also known as E&A Convenience Store.
Miss Delamere said: “A man ran from the VW into the store, closely followed by this defendant.”
Theodorou tried to hide at the back of the store and the shop assistant tried to block Mclean’s way but he barged past him.
After stabbing and hitting Theodorou several times, Mclean left the store, got back in his car and went on the run until he was arrested in Liverpool at the end of April.
By this time, the charity Crimestoppers was offering a £3,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Miss Delamere said that Theodorou was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, where it took 10 doctors to deal with him.
Grahame James, defending, said that they sedated Theodorou because of his reduced level of consciousness and his agitated state. He had not been co-operating and wanted to discharge himself.
Theodorou had wounds to his head and ear from the scissor attack, damage to his facial muscles and a broken nose and a possible fracture to the wall of his sinuses.
Mr James said that Theodorou had been in a fight in a pub the night before.
Miss Delamere said that when Mclean was arrested, he told police that Theodorou was a bad lot and that he’d got what was coming to him.
She added that Mclean himself had a string of convictions going back more than 20 years – to 2000 when he was in his teens.
Judge Jeremy Donne said: “Mr Theodorou is someone the defendant knows through previous prison sentences.”
Ryan Christopher Mclean, of Moyne Close, Hove, and formerly of Monarch’s View, Portslade, admitted causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent and having an offensive weapon at a previous hearing in May.
At that hearing, at Hove Crown Court, he also admitted being in breach of a suspended prison sentence for having a lock-knife and drug driving.
Mr James told the court that Mclean, also known as Ryan Davies, had been provoked by Theodorou, of King’s Parade, Ditchling Road, Brighton.
He said that a woman – Talisa Windsor, 31, of Amberley Drive in Hove – had fallen out with Mclean’s partner Chelsea Sears, 33, and tried to burn down his house.
Mr James said: “She (Windsor) was sentenced to six years in prison four days before this incident.
“This man (Theodorou) shouts, you’re a rapist, and that he was going to burn his house down and do a proper job. That was too much for him.
“He exploded. He exploded with anger and behaved in a way which was completely out of character.
“He realises he’s gone too far. He was on a suspended sentence which he had almost completed.”
Mr James added: “This is a man (Theodorou) who lives his life on the dark side – a drug dealer who has a history of violence and of arson.”
The court was told that no help had been given to the police by Theodorou whose previous addresses include Tophill Close and Stonery Close, in Portslade, and Crown Road, Shoreham.
Mr James said that Mclean – whose nicknames include Scouse Carlos, Cars, Carl and Carlos – had sporadic work as crane driver before his arrest and some other casual work.
Judge Donne said to Mclean: “You pursued him into that shop and assaulted him quite savagely. I bear in mind that there was an element of provocation.”
The judge sentenced Mclean to 33 months in prison and activated four weeks of the suspended sentence, making 34 months in total.
Theodorou, meanwhile, was granted bail earlier in the day at Lewes Crown Court. He is due to go on trial for being involved in drug dealing in Stonery Close, Portslade, last year.
He also faces trial for having criminal property – about £10,000 cash – and more cannabis this year.
He is expected to face a jury trial in September.
His bail conditions include living and sleeping at an address in King’s Parade, Ditchling Road, Fiveways, keeping to a curfew from 9pm to 7am and having restricted access to mobile phones.
Grow up, the lot of you.
How do you restrict access to mobile phones, may I ask.
“His bail conditions include living and sleeping at an address in King’s Parade, Ditchling Road, Fiveways, keeping to a curfew from 9pm to 7am and having restricted access to mobile phones.”
That has got to be a joke. With his criminal background, he must be laughing his head off.