Horrified onlookers saw man stabbed

Jan 7 2009 by Sam Wonfor, The Journal

A DRIVER was repeatedly stabbed in a bloody revenge attack carried out in broad daylight in front of horrified onlookers, a court heard.

Robert Anderson and his two passengers were ambushed as they waited near a bus stop at temporary traffic lights in a black BMW car, Newcastle Crown Court was told.

Moments after the BMW’s windows were smashed with an axe, Mr Anderson was confronted by John Chisholm Sr, who repeatedly stabbed him through the open driver’s window with a large knife, it was claimed.

He managed to escape by scrambling out through the front passenger door and was later treated in hospital for wounds to the arm, chest, hands and leg, jurors were told yesterday.

Chisholm Sr, 49, from Sunderland, denies wounding with intent and violent disorder on May 24, 2007.

He also denies a charge of intimidation the following January when he is alleged to have formed his hand into the shape of a gun and pointed it at Alan Smart, who had been one of the BMW passengers.

Prosecutor Robert Woodcock said the stabbing happened some weeks after Chisholm’s son, John Chisholm Jr, was fired at by a gunman outside his home.

He said the Chisholms did not report the shooting to police, but chose to “bide their time until they had the opportunity to seek vengeance in their own way, taking the law into their own hands.”

Mr Woodcock said the May 2007 attack was witnessed by ordinary members of the public who had been left horrified and startled by what they saw.

The trial continues today.