Man who stabbed holidaymaker at theme park jailed

A man who stabbed a holidaymaker three times in an unprovoked attack at a theme park in North Yorkshire has been jailed for four and a half years.

Joshua Donnelly, 22, had been involved in a dispute with his partner at Flamingo Land near Pickering at about 01:00 BST on 18 September when the victim attempted to calm the situation down, York Crown Court heard.

Donnelly, of Duxford Road, Middlesbrough, then stabbed the 38-year-old in the abdomen with a four-inch black-handled knife from the caravan's kitchen drawer.

He pleaded guilty to Section 18 wounding with intent and was jailed at the same court earlier.

The court heard the victim was from the Scottish Borders and had been on a family holiday, where he was staying in a nearby caravan.

As a result of his injuries he suffered a punctured colon and needed emergency surgery.

Following the incident, Donnelly made off from the holiday park and a car he was travelling in was stopped by officers later that day, North Yorkshire Police said.

A gardener at the holiday park found the knife discarded in the bushes and it was later forensically linked to Donnelly, a force spokesperson added.

In a statement, the victim said the incident had turned a holiday into "a nightmare" and had affected his entire family.

"I feel my life has changed completely and I have struggled dealing with what has happened," he told the court.

"I would describe it as mental torture.

"Because of my injuries, my nerves in my right leg have been damaged meaning it's a lot weaker and different to what it was."

Liberty Ashton, police investigator, described the attack as a "terrible, vicious offence that could so easily have taken an innocent man's life".

"Despite surviving the unprovoked knife attack, it has had a huge, long-term effect on the victim and his family," she added.

"They have had to learn to live with everything that this senseless violent act has left behind."

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