Axe man who attacked dog owner jailed for eight years
7:52am Friday 12th October 2012 in News
AN axe attacker has been jailed for slicing a man’s face following a dispute over an escaped dog.
A jury convicted Michael Parr, aged 46, of Holmes Street, Great Lever, of wounding with intent and possessing an axe, following a trial.
Judge Timothy Clayson, sentencing Parr yesterday, jailed him to eight years for wounding and two years for possessing the weapon. The sentences will run concurrently.
Bolton Crown Court heard that Parr raised an axe above his head and swung it at Michael Gaskell’s face, causing a 10cm gash from his left ear to his cheek.
He needed 12 stitches after the attack, which took place in Freshfield Avenue, Great Lever, on Saturday, April 14, at 1.30pm. The men were known to each other, but the attack happened after Mr Gaskell’s Japanese akita dog escaped from his garden and approached Parr and his dog, who were walking on the road.
Parr started to argue with Mr Gaskell about whether the dog should be kept on a lead.
A short time later a group of men, including Parr, gathered outside a neighbour’s home, where Mr Gaskell had gone to to borrow a cigarette.
Parr then attacked Mr Gaskell with the axe, said Michael Blakey, prosecuting.
Mr Gaskell told the court he feared his ear had been cut off.
He said Parr swung at him more than once. Parr was arrested two days later and told police the offences he had been arrested for were nonsense as he was elsewhere walking his dog at the time.
