January 28, 2021 1.52 pm This story is over 38 months old

Man slashed victim’s face after they destroyed dead partner’s shrine

He was sectioned 48 hours before the knife incident
Joseph Finney was jailed for 18 months. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

A man who slashed the face of his victim during an incident at a flat in Skegness has been jailed.

Joseph Finney had spent the evening drinking in his flat along with the victim and another man when a dispute broke out in the early hours of the morning.

Jonathan Dunne, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court that Finney mistakenly believed his medication had been stolen and during an incident that followed he sprayed one of the men, Paul Wade, with a fire extinguisher.

The two men ended up scuffling on the sofa and Finney then left the flat and went to see his landlord.

Mr Dunne said: “He claimed people in his flat were trying to rob him.”

Finney then picked up two knives and returned to his flat.

Mr Dunne said that Finney then slashed at Mr Wade leaving him with a deep cut to his cheek.

“Mr Wade has been left with a visible scar on his cheek. The incident has really knocked his confidence.

“His intention had been to settle in Skegness but as a result of this incident he felt the need to move somewhere new again.”

Finney, 49, of Burgh Road, Skegness, admitted a charge of unlawful wounding as a result of the incident on July 31, 2020. He was jailed for 18 months.

Lisa Hardy, in mitigation, said that he had complex mental health issues, but his life was changed when he developed a settled relationship with a woman.

Finney’s life then fell apart in February 2020 when the woman passed away and his mental health deteriorated.

She said that Finney’s flat had effectively been taken over by the two men who had been with him on the night.

The men held drink and drug parties and he found himself unable to sleep.

Miss Hardy said that Finney was sectioned just 48 hours before the knife incident but then went back home to his flat.

“The tipping point was that he had made a shrine to his partner. The two men in his flat started fighting and destroyed the shrine. He felt extremely threatened.”