A “FURIOUS” man returned to a St Saviour housing estate armed with two knives as he sought revenge following an altercation over a drug dispute, the Royal Court has decided.
Robert Adrian Canavan (30) had already pleaded guilty to grave and criminal assault and possession of an offensive weapon following an incident at Wellington Park Estate on Sunday 3 September.
Following a two-day Newton hearing to determine the facts of the case, the court decided in favour of the prosecution yesterday – Canavan is due to be sentenced today, Wednesday 28 February.
Crown Advocate Christina Hall, prosecuting, said: “The Crown’s case is that both the defendant and the victim came to the fight with a knife.
“Both parties did not have to use the knife or knives, but they did.
“They used those knives and caused very serious injuries to each other.”
Advocate Hall argued that Canavan and his victim got into an argument over a drugs debt the previous day.
Canavan, she said, travelled to the estate where his then-girlfriend and the victim lived.
He got into an altercation with his victim and two other men, left, and came back later, she said.
Text messages sent after the first altercation that night, she said, showed that Canavan had been attacked by the victim and his associates.
“They also show that by this time he was furious about the first altercation and that he wanted revenge,” she said.
A text the defendant sent at 9pm stated he was in a taxi, on his way to his girlfriend’s house. A few minutes later, he wrote: “I’m nearly there and prepared.”
Witnesses living in the area described how they had heard men shout: “There is no need for a knife.”
Police investigators who followed a trail of blood later found three knives in the area – a large rose gold blade and two silver knives.
Canavan brought the two silver knives to the scene, Crown Advocate Hall said, adding: “You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, you don’t bring your fists when you know it’s going to be a knife fight.”
In police interviews, the defendant said he had not brought the knives to the scene himself.
Instead, he said, the victim had come out of his house swinging a knife and dropped it.
The knife landed behind Canavan. He claimed he had picked up the victim’s knives and flung them into a nearby bush.
Advocate Olaf Blakeley, defending, said: “We don’t have any forensic evidence, we don’t have any DNA, we don’t have any blood matching.”
Commissioner Sir William Bailhache was presiding, and said the court was sure that Canavan had returned to the address armed with two knives, and that the Crown’s version was the correct account of the incident.
The Jurats sitting were Kim Averty and Gareth Hughes.
