Man who tried to murder teenager with meat cleaver jailed

A man who tried to murder a teenager in a meat cleaver attack has been jailed for seven years.

Allan Brown, 32, repeatedly struck Reece Talbot with the weapon during the assault in Holytown, in North Lanarkshire.

At the High Court in Edinburgh he was found guilty of assaulting the 18-year-old to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and attempting to murder him on July 1, 2018.

A judge told Brown at the High Court in Edinburgh: “For reasons only you know you deliberately targeted Mr Talbot on this day and proceeded to assault him in a very bad way with a meat cleaver.”

Lord Burns said: “The jury found, not surprisingly, that the attack constituted an attempt to murder Mr Talbot.”

He told Brown: “Attacks with weapons that constitute attempted murder must be dealt with severely.”

The judge said that the 32-year-old had a significant criminal record but had not been convicted of an offence related to violence since 2008 and ordered that he be kept under supervision for a further three years after his release.

Defence solicitor advocate Robert Mitchell said it was accepted he was convicted of a very serious offence and that a lengthy custodial sentence was inevitable.

He said it was fortunate that the victim appeared to have recovered.

Mr Mitchell said Brown, a prisoner in Addiewell jail in West Lothian, had for a lengthy period of time appeared to have turned his back on his previous behaviour.

The defence lawyer said the construction worker seemed to be capable of “leading a hard working, ordinary life” and added: “He is still a relatively young man.”