A GOOD Samaritan from Windermere suffered a head wound after he was chased and assaulted by a knife-wielding attacker who wrestled him to the ground.

The dramatic late-night confrontation came after the victim and one of his friends became involved in a dispute with 25-year-old Raheem Grant, who at one point before the assault was heard telling the victim: “I’m going to kill you,” Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Grant, of Brook Court, Windermere, admitted an assault causing actual bodily harm and possessing a knife in a public place without a lawful excuse.

James Preece, prosecuting, said the violence erupted on June 25 last year after Grant and his girlfriend had been out together at the Windermere Social Club before leaving for him at around 10.30pm.

A group of friends who were at the same club were later walking past Grant’s flat when they noticed that he was involved in an altercation with his partner.

“One of the group went to the door of the flat,” said Mr Preece.

This was followed by a “physical alternation” between Grant and that man, with the pair ending up grappling on the ground. 

When one of the man’s friends got involved in an attempt to help, trying to help by pulling the man away from Grant, the defendant returned to his flat and armed himself with a kitchen knife.

It was at this point that he threatened to kill the man who had intervened. 

He chased the two men he had argued with, finally catching up with the Good Samaritan and pulling him to the ground.

“The man thought he'd been punched to the top of the head,” said Mr Preece.

But he then felt blood and concluded he had been stabbed.

When interviewed by the police, Grant said he picked up the knife to “protect himself.” 

In a statement, the victim said: “I have lived in Windermere my whole life and I have never felt unsafe until the attack happened.

“I am no longer comfortable walking anywhere in the dark alone. The whole event has left me feeling very vulnerable… It has affected my whole life. I never thought that walking home with a friend and helping someone in need would end in such a vicious attack.

“I will always think twice before helping someone in the future. I have been left physically and mentally scarred.

"It has completely changed me as a person.”

Recorder Tony Hawks accepted that Grant was normally a hard-working man.

He told him: “You were a young man of previous good character, but I am afraid now you are not because you have a serious conviction for an offence of violence.”

Grant had drunk far too much that evening, said the judge, and what he did was the kind of behaviour that could result in somebody being killed.

But the Recorder added: “I am prepared to accept that this behaviour was out of character.”

The judge imposed an 18-month jail term but suspended it for the same period.

Grant must complete 25 rehabilitation activity days. Recorder Hawks also imposed a three-year restraining order banning any contact with the victim.

He said Grant behaved in a “stupid and dangerous way,” adding: “Don’t let it happen again.”