Cheshire West: Teen slashed woman with knife outside bar

A crown court judge said there could easily have been a fatality when Joshua Clow repeatedly slashed his victim with the ‘absolutely horrific’ weapon, leaving her with deep cuts, in need of stitches and left with permanent scarring.

Clow, 18, of Brookcot Road in Manchester, appeared in Chester Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday, May 25) where he was sentenced to six years in jail for wounding with intent, possession of a bladed article and assault.

The prosecution described how on November 12, 2021, three women were in Revival Bar in Northwich and at about 11pm, Clow went over to them and asked where he could get drugs, causing an argument to break out when they said they didn’t know.

The court heard how a security officer walked towards the group, but despite his presence, Clow became enraged and pushed one of the girls backwards by her throat.

He was then led outside the premises where he remained by the front door.

CCTV images, played during the hearing, showed a man and the three women appear by the door and one of them throwing a drink over Clow before the group moved further inside.

Later that evening, when the women and the man leave the building, CCTV images show Clow running across to them with a blade in his hand.

He performs four slashing movements, striking one of the women – despite the security officers’ attempts to hold him back.

The recording also showed a physical altercation between the defendant’s mum and the victim.

The victim of the terrifying knife attack needed stitches and says she is ‘physically scarred for life’.

In a victim impact statement read out in court, she said at the time the incident affected her deeply, caused her to have trouble sleeping, not feeling able to go out, and impacting her family and friends too.

In mitigation, Ryan Rothwell, defending, said Clow has had a ‘troubled upbringing’ with mental health problems, is only young and lacks maturity.

Joshua Clow. Mugshot supplied by Cheshire Police

Mr Rothwell added his client shows genuine remorse and said Clow told him: “If I could take it back I would.

“I want the complainant to know how sorry I am.”

He said the womens’ volatile reaction to him in the bar sparked his lashing out, however Judge Patrick Thompson disagreed with this explanation and said people are understandably not going to react well when asked where to get drugs.

Judge Thompson added: “His reaction was then to go completely berserk.”

“If he hadn’t been held back by the bouncers who knows what would have happened.”

Sentencing Clow to six years in a young offenders’ institution, Judge Thompson told him: “You completely lost your head.

“You slashed her four times with this zombie knife while being held back.

“If you weren’t being held back it seems to me there would have been a fatality.”