Man who attacked boy, 12, on bouncy castle during sister's birthday party jailed
A student who punched and kicked a 12-year-old boy on a bouncy castle at his little sister's birthday party has been jailed.
Mason Clague, 23, also assisted in the stabbing of the youngster's leg amid a "frenzied" attack in the back garden at the victim's gran's house. A court heard the child was attacked and stabbed three times in the leg, which required hospital treatment but this was not life threatening.
Clague denied the assault but was found guilty of wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm following a trial in September, and was today jailed for six years. Sentencing Clague at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge David Knifton said: "While I accept the jury were not sure you carried a knife to the scene of the attack, it's quite clear a knife was used to inflict the wounds. This was a joint enterprise based on the facts that you either caused the stab wounds yourself, or helped the other man.
The stabbing happened amid a children's birthday party in Bootle, Merseyside (Liverpool Echo)"Despite the boy's mother bravely intervening to stop the attack, protesting her son was only 12, you clearly responded that you didn't care, threatening to kill him and to - in your words - 'chop the lot of youse'. Whether or not you actually inflicted the stab wounds, those responses indicate to me you were aware of the knife and were supportive, knowing the serious injuries that were likely to result."
The attack "stunned the local community" in Bootle, Merseyside, police say. It happened after the 12-year-old left his younger sister's birthday party with his 14-year-old friend to buy drinks from a nearby shop. The pair went onto a grassy area on Southport Road and began "larking about" and throwing stones, one of which narrowly missed Clague as he crossed the street towards his own property, reports Liverpool Echo.
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Clague became enraged, ran into his house and emerged with the other man. The pair chased the two boys back into the garden, where Clague knocked the boy onto the bouncy castle and "punched, kicked and kneed" him as the other man stabbed him. The boy described feeling a "poke in the leg" and believed he had been knifed by both men - one of whom he identified as his nan's neighbour, Clague. The chaos on April 7, 2021, was broken up by the boy's mother, who bravely shielded her son with her own body and shouted: "He's only 12."
Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, said: "The boy was stabbed four times in the thigh and buttocks. It is fortuitous there was not more lasting damage, or worse. The defendant had a leading role in this attack. He began the attack, he continued the attack, and he made further threats as he left. This was an attack on a 12-year-old boy who suffered a traumatic event which has changed his life during his formative years."
The court heard the boy had been diagnosed with PTSD following the stabbing, struggled to sleep, and had to be pulled out of school due to anxiety and panic attacks.
Anthony Barraclough, defending, said Clague, an Edge Hill University student, maintained his not guilty plea. He said: "Your Honour may find (Clague) was not the stabber, but Man 2 was, and that despite all the evidence that you heard, Man 1 - the person identified as Mason Clague - didn't cause any identifiable injury to the victim.
"He is a man of very low conviction and there are a lot of reference for what worth they are. It may well be that the person with the most brilliant background can act out of character."
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