Teenager sentenced over Christmas Eve Seaford stabbing

Jordan Novis has been sentenced to six years’ detention in a Young Offender Institution following the incident in Seaford on December 24.

He originally denied possessing an offensive weapon (a knife) in public and committing grievous bodily harm with intent, claiming self-defence.

However, he later changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on Monday (April 8). He was also ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge.

Police investigations revealed how the pair were known to each other prior to the incident, which occurred in Millberg Road at about 9.30am on Christmas Eve.

After receiving a single stab wound to the torso, the victim managed to run back to his house where he was treated by paramedics. He was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and was discharged two days later.

Novis, 19, unemployed, previously of Sutton Avenue, Seaford, was nominated as the suspect, and he handed himself in to police on December 27. The knife was never recovered.

Detective Constable Paul Kelly, of the Eastbourne Investigations Team, said: “This conviction sends a clear message that carrying a knife in a public place is a serious offence which will not be tolerated on the streets of Sussex – or anywhere else in the UK for that matter.

“The fact that Novis used that weapon to attack another person makes it all the more serious. It can take a single stab wound to cause fatal injuries, and the victim is extremely fortunate in this case not to have sustained more significant injuries.

“There is no place for knife crime in our country, and anyone caught offending will be dealt with swiftly and robustly.”