Maidstone man stabbed after row with quad biker Lee Edwards over snow
by Keith Hunt
A thug who took violent revenge on a resident who complained
about his quad bike churning up snow he had cleared outside his
home has been jailed for seven years.
Lee Edwards "stewed" after Peter Wilkins swore at him and
returned later armed with a metal truncheon and a knife. He then
beat the victim with the cosh and stabbed him in the shoulder.
Edwards, of Brookbank, Maidstone, denied wounding with intent
but was convicted by a jury in November.
A judge said it was "a horrendous, if isolated incident" fuelled
by alcohol.
Maidstone Crown Court heard Mr Wilkins had been clearing the
snow in Barnehurst Road, Penenden Heath, for about an hour on the
morning of February 5 last year when Edwards, 34, arrived on the
quad bike with his young daughter as a passenger.
Mr Wilkins admitted in evidence he was angry and swore at
Edwards as he told him not to ride the bike in his road.
"I basically told him that I hadn't cleared the area for him to
churn it back up," he said. "His attitude was that he wasn't really
bothered about it and was more upset that I had scared his
daughter."
That evening, Mr Wilkins was parking his car when Edwards
returned. As he opened the car door he was hit across his hand, arm
and collarbone with the truncheon.
Mr Wilkins said the bar fell to the ground with the third blow.
He then saw a knife in Edwards's gloved hand.
"I hopped out the car and grabbed hold of him by his wrists," he
added. "I tried to restrain him with his arms up in the air. I bit
one of his fingers.
"There was a lot of struggling and I was in panic mode. I
remember shouting: 'Why are you trying to stab me?'' He said
something about frightening or
"There was a lot of struggling and I was in panic mode. I remember shouting: 'Why are you trying to stab me?'..." – Peter Wilkins, defending
upsetting his
daughter."
Edwards eventually ran off when the victim's parents came out of
the house.
"My mum was in panic mode and couldn't believe what had
happened," he said. "I turned to shut the door and she noticed
there was blood all over my heavy fleece jacket."
He needed stitches to repair the wound. He picked Edwards out of
an identification parade.
Mr Recorder Andrew Moran QC said Edwards had lay in wait as his
victim returned home from work at night.
He only stopped the assault when Mr Wilkins's parents came out
of their home to see what was happening.
The judge said there were features of the case that indicated
high culpability, in particular premeditation and use of two
weapons and the intention to cause more harm that actually
resulted.
"It seems to be an aberration fuelled in part by consuming
alcohol," he added. "There is a degree of remorse."
Edwards denied being the attacker in court, but accepted his
guilt when he appeared for sentence.
Thug Lee Edwards was
jailed at Maidstone Crown Court
John Fitzgerald, defending, said the father-of-two was
confronted in the street by an angry man wielding a shovel.
The victim, he said, told Edwards: "You should not be on the
road. You have got your daughter on the front with no crash helmet.
Why don't you go to your own neck of the woods?"
"His daughter leapt from the quad bike and ran off very
frightened," said Mr Fitzgerald. "When he got home, he was still
shaking. He stewed on that for the day, I am afraid.
"He is not a heavy drinker, but he was drinking. He left the
house a man who had seen his little girl terrified. He went to have
it out with that person he blamed for that.
"There were a few swipes with the knife and a few strikes with
the truncheon."
Mr Fitzgerald said Edwards was normally a hard-working, decent
family man.
e had been in custody for three months and was feeling it
acutely, he added.
25/02/13
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