Man jailed after slashing incident in Dundee Tesco car park

A man who slashed another man’s neck in a Dundee supermarket car park has been jailed.

Edward Ward was jailed for 46 months at the Sheriff Court today with a one year supervised release order to follow his prison sentence.

Ward, 29, was found guilty after trial of assaulting Daniel Murphy with a Stanley knife outside Tesco Extra, Kingsway West, in August last year.

The jury heard Ward was encouraged by his fiancée Chelsea Malone, 23, who claimed Mr Murphy — a stranger to them both — swore at her during an argument.

It heard she then said to Ward “you gonna let him speak to me like that”.

Ward then struck Mr Murphy, who at first thought he had been punched before realising he had been struck with a Stanley knife.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told the jury in her closing speech “The way he acted throughout his evidence was entirely consistent with a young man who was utterly, utterly terrified.

“Ward claims he punched Mr Murphy once in self-defence.

“He claims no knife was used, and claims the injury must have been caused by a ring on his finger.”

The fiscal then dismissed Ward’s claim as “utter nonsense” adding that the assault with a knife left Mr Murphy with a “horrific and gruesome injury”.

Ward, a prisoner of Perth, was found guilty after trial of assaulting Daniel Murphy by striking him on the face with a Stanley knife to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement, at Tesco Extra, Kingsway, on August 15 2015 while on bail.

Ward’s partner Chelsea Malone was today placed on an 18 month supervision order after being found guilty of one charge against her.

Malone, of Dryburgh Crescent, was found guilty of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting and swearing at Daniel Murphy and threatening him with violence, on the same date and location, while she was on bail.

Sheriff Elizabeth Munro said: “You hold some responsibility of the injury caused. You seem to be very impulsive and don’t think things through.”