Men stabbed Good Samaritan and left him to die in alleyway

Two men stabbed a Good Samaritan and left him to die in an alleyway. Lewis Day and Daryl Brown chased and attacked the man - believing he was trying to steal their friend's phone at Whitstable train station.

In fact the man was trying to help her and had handed over the device after she left it on the platform. Police said the pair were "completely unconcerned" about leaving their victim to die after launching the vicious attack on him.

A police investigation found that Day, Brown and a friend had been on the opposite platform from the victim, a man in his 50s, on the night of the incident on December 16, 2023. Day went to the other platform to retrieve their friend’s phone, which she had left there, and the victim picked it up and gave it to him.

READ MORE: Man who threw metal chair after Kent fish and chip shop argument jailed for manslaughter

READ MORE: Three men charged after man found sleeping in car by police in Margate

Brown mistakenly thought the victim was attempting to steal the phone and threw a beer can at him from the other platform, narrowly missing the man. The victim then threw it back, prompting Brown and Day to chase him from the station.

They caught up with him in a nearby alleyway, where the victim was repeatedly stabbed. The pair then returned to the station, leaving the man in the alleyway with multiple serious injuries.

A witness at the station heard Brown and Day arguing about having stabbed someone. A fight then broke out between the two offenders, before Day boarded a train and Brown and their friend stayed in Whitstable.

Concerned by what he had overheard, the witness went out of the station to look for the victim and found him in the alleyway. He called for help from passing cars, prompting emergency services to attend and the victim to be taken to a London hospital.

Brown was arrested nearby and police detained Day on the train at Margate. They were both charged after detectives collected witness accounts and CCTV from the area.

After a trial at Canterbury Crown Court, Day was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and Brown was convicted of unlawful wounding.

At a sentencing hearing on November 26 Day, 26, of Hereson Road, Ramsgate, was jailed for 14 and a half years and Brown, 33, of Elm Grove, Westgate-on-Sea, was sentenced to three and a half years. Day will also serve an extra three and a half years on licence following his term.

'Horrific attack'

Investigating officer Detective Constable Matthew Burridge said: 'This was a horrific attack on a man who had attempted to help a friend of the two offenders moments earlier. These two men seemed completely unconcerned about leaving the victim to die, and it is perhaps only thanks to the intervention of a member of the public that we are not dealing with a fatal assault.

"I would like to praise the witness for his actions on the night and the statement he gave describing the offenders' behaviour following the attack.

"The assault will obviously have a long-term impact on the victim and his family, but I hope the knowledge that these two men have been taken off the streets of Kent gives him some relief."