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Stabbed footballer slated by judge as attacker jailed
Man who almost killed West Ham’s Calum Davenport gets six years, but the player is described as ‘deplorable’
A man who almost killed Premier League footballer Calum Davenport by stabbing him repeatedly in the legs has been jailed for six years - but the judge in the case lambasted the player after hearing he had racially abused his attacker first.
West Ham star Davenport lost half the blood in his body after being attacked by Worrell Whitehurst, his sister's boyfriend, in August last year. He spent two days in intensive care and was in hospital for a month.
But as he jailed Whitehurst for GBH Judge Michael Kay rounded on the footballer and described his behaviour and that of his father as "deplorable" during events prior to the incident.
"Yet again, sadly, a footballer is involved in activity which shows that he does not begin to understand that his privileged life ought to be accompanied by some appreciation of the fact that he is a role model for young people and ought to behave appropriately," said Judge Kay.
In a separate court case earlier this month, Davenport, whose contract with West Ham was cancelled in March, was cleared of assaulting his sister on the day of the attack.
During Whitehurst's case Luton Crown Court was told Davenport and his father Curtis made racist remarks after hearing that his sister, Cara, was expecting mixed-raced Whitehurst's baby.
The earlier trial heard that Davenport had called his sister a "form of cancer" after discovering she was pregnant by Whitehurst.
When Whitehurst discovered what had happened he armed himself with a kitchen knife and went in pursuit of the footballer telling his girlfriend: "I'm going to make sure he doesn't play football again."
He attacked Davenport outside his mother's house, injuring her in the process. The 27-year-old footballer was stabbed around eight times in the legs.
Whitehurst admitted GBH and unlawfully wounding Davenport's mother, Kim Stupple. Defence lawyer Jerome Lynch admitted: "He lost it." But he added that had Davenport been arrested after the incident with his sister the attack would not have happened.
Davenport, who has eight England Under-21 caps, is now said to be in training and is hoping to return to professional football. ·
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I would have thought that having somebody attempting to chop your legs off because you insulted them would have been punishment enough without additional chastisement for the nature of the insult.
The greater concern is that footballers are seen as role models. That and the whole story are manifestations of a serious social problem, Chav Britannia. Raoul Moat, Baby Peter etc. Rooted in the same social problem.
Sounds like another Lee Bowyer in the making. Get rid.