Four men jailed for attack on Oswestry man
Four men were jailed for a combined total of 15 years on Monday following an attack on an Oswestry man in January last year.
Arsene Cubaka, aged 23, of Somerton Court, Birmingham, Telmo Bernardo, aged 19, of Glan Gors, Wrexham, Nathan McCarthy, aged 23, of Abdon Avenue, Birmingham and Luke Cross, aged 23, of Mount View, Sutton Coldfield were all sentenced at Stafford Crown Court.
Cubaka pleaded guilty to section 18 assault (grievous bodily harm) and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Bernardo pleaded guilty to section 20 assault (grievous bodily harm) and was sentenced to 30 months in prison
McCarthy pleaded guilty to section 20 assault (grievous bodily harm) and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Cross was found guilty at trial of threats to kill and threats to cause criminal damage and was sentenced to two years in prison for each offence, to run concurrently.
At around 8pm on Saturday 23 January 2016, officers were called to reports that a man had been stabbed at an address in Castlefields, Oswestry. The victim, aged in his 40s, sustained significant stab wounds and required life-saving surgery.
In the following days and weeks, the four men were arrested and remanded in custody.
Enquiries into their activities, including analysis of mobile phones established that they had been in contact with each other and had worked together to carry-out the attack. Through interrogation of mobile phone data, Automatic Number Plate Recognition and CCTV enquires, detectives were able to prove that Cubaka, McCarthy and Bernardo were in Oswestry prior to the stabbing, making their way to the West Midlands area shortly afterwards.
The four men were charged and further remanded in custody.
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Mark Bellamy from West Mercia Police said:
"This was a pre-planned and orchestrated attack. A dedicated team of detectives and support staff worked extremely hard in the opening days of this inquiry, using all of the modern investigative tools available and the fact that just days after the attack occurred, two of the men involved had been identified as suspects and arrested, is testament to the efforts of everyone involved.
"The victim of this attack required life-saving surgery and was extremely fortunate that the stabbing did not fatally wound him. I hope that the sentences given to these four men yesterday enable him to begin the process of moving on with his life following this ordeal."
"We would like to reassure the community in Oswestry and surrounding areas, that incidents of this nature are very rare in the county. We are very grateful to the public for providing vital information."
