11 February 2013
Man Sentenced to 12 Years After Stabbing Business Partner
A Bedford man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison today at
Luton Crown Court after inflicting life changing injuries on his
would-be business partner.
Barry Bell, 47, of Lindisfarne Priory Bedford, had been in the
car financing business for many years. He had been introduced by
mutual acquaintances to Gary Brown of Buntingford in Hertfordshire
and the two became friends, eventually agreeing to go into business
together.
But by April of 2012, before the business had even started, Bell
owed £40,000 to Mr Brown and made up a string of excuses about why
the money hadn’t been paid. It included £15,000 which Mr Brown had
given to Bell to buy a car for his wife – but the car never
materialised and Mr Brown asked for his money back.
Bell agreed to go with Mr Brown, 53, to the bank in Bedford town
centre on May 17 to sort the matter once and for all. They met in
Bedford and Bell got into Mr Brown’s car and they drove to the
Broadway car park.
Once at the Broadway, Bell went to the back of the car,
apparently getting change for the car park ticket. But totally
without warning he produced a knife and stabbed the unsuspecting Mr
Brown in the neck from behind as the other man sat in the driver’s
seat. Mr Brown suffered six knife wounds in the chest and neck and
was also hit three times round the head with an iron which Bell had
also brought with him.
Bell was found guilty at Luton Crown Court last year of causing
Mr Brown grievous bodily harm with intent, although he had been
found not guilty of attempted murder.
“This was an absolutely unprovoked attack and all the more
frightening for it,” said Det Sgt Graham McMillan, of the Beds,
Cambs and Herts Major Crime Unit. “Mr Brown had no reason at all to
suspect anything like this was going to happen – the men had been
friends for two years and Mr Brown had no chance to defend
himself.”
“Bell had run out of money to pay back the people he owed –
which included Mr Brown – and the visit to the bank that day was
about to uncover the whole mess. Bell has never explained why he
thought that attacking Mr Brown was going to help the situation,
preferring instead to add insult to injury by claiming that Mr
Brown had brought the knife to the meeting and was the aggressor,”
said Det Sgt McMillan.
“His injuries left him needing a blood transfusion and it’s only
thanks to the skill of the surgeons who were able to operate and
stop the bleeding that Mr Brown is still alive. He’s been left with
permanent nerve damage and is obviously still out of pocket by a
huge amount of money.”“It is another demonstration, if one was
needed, that carrying a knife will lead to trouble. In this case it
has led to life-threatening injuries. Unfortunately at the MCU, we
frequently see the results of knife-related crime and it generally
ends up ruining people’s lives, whatever their intention might have
originally been in carrying a knife,” he said.
