Man stabbed 'helping friend' in the neck
Northumbria PoliceA man who was stabbed in the neck by a friend he was helping out has told a court he remains tormented by not knowing why the attack happened.
Robert Tait, 60, launched the attack while doing his laundry at the victim's rural Northumberland cottage, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The victim, who the court heard had been left for dead, said he could not remember the attack itself or why it had happened, with the lack of any known reason only adding to his trauma.
Tait, of West Woodburn in Northumberland, was jailed for four years 11 months after admitting intentional wounding.
The pair had been "longstanding" friends, with the victim letting Tait do laundry at his house while the defendant's home was undergoing a renovation, prosecutor Emma Dowling said.
They were drinking vodka together on 18 November 2025 when Tait grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed his friend twice in the neck, the court heard.
Tait left the property and drove to his ex-partner's home, telling her he had "killed someone", Dowling said.
The victim, who had called 999, was taken to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary where he was found to have two wounds to his neck, a fractured nose, cuts to his chest and fingers and bruises to his eye and cheek.
'None the wiser'
Tait told police the victim had come at him with a knife and he had wrestled it from him, but offered no explanation about the injuries or the comment he made to his ex about killing the man.
Tait pleaded guilty on the basis he picked up the knife during a verbal argument and attacked the man "in the heat of the moment", the court heard.
In a statement read to the court, the victim said he had gone from being "hard-working and friendly" to "nervous, vulnerable and suspicious" with "extreme anxiety" that had left him unable to work.
"I can't see any end to this as I don't know why this happened," he said.
The "horror and shock" of returning to his blood-spattered home had been "indescribable", he said, while his first night home alone had been "horrendous" as he was "really frightened and worried in case anyone tried to get in".
He said not knowing why he was attacked was one his biggest torments.
He had hoped he might get "some sort of closure" at a trial but, after Tait pleaded guilty, he remained "none the wiser".
In mitigation, Rachel Hedworth said Tait was "utterly remorseful" and "devastated" by his actions, adding: "Something has gone on at that point where he snapped, he's at a loss to explain why but he is incredibly sorry."
Judge Edward Bindloss said Tait was at a "low ebb" in his life following the break-up of his marriage and a number of house moves, and was using alcohol and cocaine to "deal with the emotional difficulties".
The victim was helping Tait, the judge said, and the attack "arose out of an argument that nobody has given an adequate explanation for".
Instead of helping his heavily-bleeding friend in the aftermath, Tait "drove away" and disposed of his clothes and the knife in a river, the court heard.
Bindloss said the victim was now a "recluse" who was "having to remain in a house" where he did "not feel safe".
A restraining order banning Tait from contacting the man was made to last for 10 years.
