A Derby man who repeatedly stabbed his Nottingham victim multiple times outside a city centre nightclub has been found guilty of attempted murder. Following a two-day trial at Nottingham Crown Court, a jury took just two-and–half hours to convict Connor Page of trying to take the life of Skye Severn.
CCTV played during the trial showed the 27-year-old savagely use the blade several times on his Bilborough victim following an argument outside the I-Club in Wilford Street in the early hours of June 23, last year. Such was the ferocity of the attack, the tip of the knife was left lodged in the skull of the 25-year-old and it had to be removed through surgery.
And phone footage showed a large crowd which all witnessed the attack with one woman heard screaming “he’s stabbing him, he’s stabbing him”. Judge Mark Watson remanded Page, of Metcalfe Close, Alvaston, into custody and will sentence him at a date to be confirmed at a further hearing later this week.
He had always admitted to being the knifeman and carrying out the attack but denying he intended to kill Mr Severn, of Bilborough. Instead, when he gave evidence, he told the jury of six women and six men that he didn’t intend to kill him and said “my intention was to hurt him”.
Alex Wolfson, when he opened the trial, said: “There is no dispute between the prosecution and the defence that the defendant used the knife to repeatedly stab Mr Severn. He had been shown up for mistreating a female in a very public setting.
“He could have chosen to walk away but he returned and stabbed him multiple times to the head and body. One stab on its own could have been enough to kill him.
Police cordon on Wilford Street, Nottingham city centre
(Image: Nottingham Post)
“The prosecution say this was a repeated and persistent attack. You might choose to call it a frenzied attack. It only ended because someone dragged this defendant off from stabbing Mr Severn.
“He was taken to hospital with several stab wounds. The tip of a knife was lodged in his skull and he had to have an operation to remove it.” Police were called to reports of a fight outside the I-Club music venue, formerly the Irish Social Centre, just before 4am on the morning of the stabbing. In the footage, Page and Mr Severn come together in the street and then separate for around a minute.
The pair then come back into view and the attack with the knife begins before Page is dragged off and walks away while Mr Severn is helped to his feet. When he gave his evidence, Page was asked by his defence barrister, Steve Cobley: “We have all heard the word ‘intent’. Was your intention to hurt him?” The defendant replied: “Yes, my intention was to hurt him.”
The barrister said: “How do you feel about what you did?” Page replied: “It should not have happened, what I did was not justified. I am obviously sorry.”
Mr Cobley said: “When you stabbed Skye Severn, did you intend to kill him?” He replied: “No.” In cross-examination, Mr Wolfson asked the defendant: “Did you ‘lose it’ or did you make a conscious decision to start stabbing?” He replied: “I made a conscious decision to start stabbing.”
Mr Wolfson said: “At what point in that clip (the footage) do you say you did not intend to kill him?” Page replied: “I understand it looks bad, I understand I was stabbing him but I did not intend for him to die or to kill him.”