Kai Wing cleared of attempted murder of pal - but guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent

A 21-year-old man has been found not guilty of the attempted murder of his pal Harry Loveday.

The jury in the case of Kai Wing came back into the courtroom at Teesside Crown Court after just an hour of deliberation on Thursday afternoon. The foreman said the jury had found Wing guilty of an alternative charge, of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Wing admitted that he "struck Mr Loveday with a knife" but he told police he acted in self-defence, when he says Mr Loveday was on top of him, "raining down punches" on Easter Sunday.

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The friends, alongside Wing's girlfriend Ellie Jo Hussain, were house-sitting on Birchington Avenue, in Grangetown, looking after the pets of a man who had gone into hospital. Wing had been drinking and had taken cocaine when an argument broke out, after the court heard Mr Loveday refused to get a knife to cut up their takeaway parmos.

Mr Loveday was found slumped up against a neighbour's home. Natalie Curtain said they had been "terrified" at the sight of him, when they saw him covered in blood. They called for an ambulance but did not let him inside.

Ms Curtain, who lives with Wing's cousin, said: "He was sliding down the wall and repeatedly said 'Kai'. He was saying 'I need an ambulance. I'm going to die.' "

The knife had passed right through an artery in Mr Loveday's chest and he suffered heavy blood loss. Home office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton said that he had "not minutes, but seconds" to live and he was on the brink of having a heart attack. Mr Loveday underwent a 10-hour operation in hospital.

During the trial, the court heard that Wing has an IQ of 70 to 80 - and that he suffers from mild learning difficulties. He has also been diagnosed with PTSD, after he was attacked in 2020, when he had his leg broken in Middlesbrough town centre.

Peter Glenser KC, Wing's barrister, said his client was having a flashback of the previous assault seconds before he admitted "grabbing the nearest thing to me, which was a knife, and striking Harry with it once." The court heard evidence that Wing may have acted impulsively in an altercation, after coming back into consciousness from the flashback.

Wing, of Hill Crescent in Redcar, was remanded into custody. He will be sentenced at a later date.

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