SNS GroupA man once charged with a murder bid on Steven ‘Bonzo’ Daniel has been jailed for slashing a stranger.
Robert Bennett scarred the victim for life after the attack in Glasgow’s Possilpark on March 3.
The 36-year-old struck the man after the victim refused to stop recording an ongoing dispute between himself and Bennett’s associates.
Bennett was arrested in Liverpool more than two weeks later having travelled from Alicante in Spain.
He has now been jailed for almost two years after admitting to an aggravated assault charge at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
Bennett had previously been one of four men who were initially charged in 2017, accused of being involved in the attack on Daniel in the city’s Port Dundas, which left him with serious injuries.
He ended up not standing trial, but six others did and were later jailed at the High Court in Glasgow in 2019.
The court heard that the victim and another man were each in vehicles that were parked outside a friend’s address on the city’s Saracen Street.
A green Subaru Forester car stopped beside the victim’s vehicle, someone inside asked for the window to be lowered before getting out and punching the victim.
The man escaped into the front garden of a nearby property.
Another individual in the Subaru got out and slashed the front tyre of the man’s car.
Prosecutor Abbas Ali said: “[The victim] feared for his safety and started to record the men on his phone
“The suspects in the vehicle demanded that he stop videoing them and to delete it but he refused.”
Those in the Subaru – including Bennett – tried to snatch the man’s phone.
Mr Ali added: “Bennett then asked [the victim] to delete the video.
“He tried to move away, and Bennett produced a knife, slashing him on the right side of his face.
“[The victim] fled the area to seek medical help.”
He went to a barbershop for assistance, and the police were contacted.
Mr Ali said: “It was noted that he had a five-to-six-centimetre wound to his face which required stitches to close and will lead to scarring.”
CCTV inquiries helped in tracking Bennett, who was the driver of the vehicle.
Bennett was later arrested at John Lennon Airport in Liverpool after travelling from Alicante in Spain.
Ian Sievwright, defending, told the court that Bennett claimed a stranger, the victim, had made a “gesture” towards his car prior to the attack.
The lawyer added: “He is aware of how serious this charge is.
“He knows that it is unacceptable and understands the consequences will be custody.”
It was also revealed that Bennett has previous convictions for assault in 2008 as well as 2023, for which he received a community payback order.
Bennett also admitted in court to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and having a knife in a public place.
Bennett, also of Milton, was sentenced to a total of 584 days behind bars by Sheriff Shona Gilroy.
She told him: “It is depressing that, yet again, there is the issue of people carrying and using knives against someone completely unknown to them.”
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