Chesterfield man stabbed pal with peeler knife during boozy party, court hears

Liam Rough, 35, swung for his friend with the six-inch blade after being “set-off” when a neighbour asked him to “keep the noise down”.

Derby Crown Court heard Rough had been out drinking with his partner, the victim and another man when they returned to his partner’s address for an after-party.

A prosecutor described how during the incident in Staveley on July 22 last year a neighbour complained there was too much noise.

"The defendant,” said the prosecutor, “reacted quickly to that. One witness described him saying ‘she’s asked me to get everybody out’.

"At the same time he went to the kitchen drawer and pulled out a peeler knife with a six-inch blade.

"The complainant stood up at some point and the defendant swung a blow towards his chest area – the blow landed underneath his armpit.”

A witness was described as “hiding” in the living room immediately after the victim was stabbed while Rough’s partner’s neighbours quickly left.

When police arrived to arrest Rough, such was his state that he had to be tasered.

Later in hospital the victim was treated for a one-centimetre stab wound on the right side of his upper torso which required stitches.

The court heard Rough, of Barrow Street, Staveley, had “numerous” previous violence offences and was jailed in 2021 for robbery.

Rough and his partner, said his barrister, had suffered a “tragedy” shortly before the incident and he had developed an alcohol problem.

While on remand in custody the defendant had attended weekly alcoholics anonymous meetings and he was now on anti-psychotic medication, they added.

Rough admitted wounding without intent.

Judge Martin Hurst told him: “You were at a property where everybody drank too much and a neighbour asked you to keep the noise down.

"The neighbour seems to have set you off in a curious way and you picked up a knife and swung it at your friend.

"That stab wound could have killed him.”

The judge, who noted Rough had “bettered” himself while in prison, jailed the defendant for 22 months.