'Dangerous' knifeman left 18-year-old with gaping wound in slash attack in Sunderland street

Brody Ruddy asked the 18-year-old victim and his friend if they wanted to buy drugs then lashed out with a knife he was carrying after they refused.

The teen suffered a deep and gaping injury to the right side of his face that required sutures at hospital and caused underlying damage to his glands.

A judge said the victim was "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and the attack was wholly unprovoked with "no motive or reason" behind it.

Prosecutor Jolyon Perks told Newcastle Crown Court the victim has since died but his death was not linked to the attack, which happened on March 13.

The court heard on the day of the violence the victim had been standing near a convenience store on Fordfield Road in Sunderland, with a friend when they noticed Ruddy, who appeared to be intoxicated through drink or drugs.

Mr Perks outlined the nature of the incident for the court.

He said: "The defendant appears to have engaged both the complainant and the other male in conversation about whether they wanted to purchase drugs."Both declined and it then appears that the defendant offered a hand, with a view to shaking it and they believed the encounter had finished.

"The complainant and the other male took the view that the defendant was going to walk away."

Mr Perks said Ruddy showed the men something on his phone and added: "There was then a wholly unprovoked and deliberate slashing of the complainant's face with the blade, which caused a significant injury to the right side of his face."That injury required numerous sutures at hospital and caused underlying damage to salivary glands in the complainant's face."

Mr Perks said the victim had a "deep gaping wound" to his face after the incident, and the violence "finished as quickly as it started".

Ruddy, 34, of General Havelock Road, Sunderland, admitted wounding with intent and having a bladed article.

Mr Recorder Nathan Adams sentenced him to 57 months behind bars with an extended licence period of 27 months.

The judge said Ruddy, who has previous convictions for violence and drug dealing, is a dangerous offender and went on to emphasise the serious nature of his offences.

"There is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm occasioned by you in future,” he told Ruddy.

He added: "This was a wholly unprovoked attack, there was no motive or reason and indeed you yourself accept you can put forward no account of why you acted in the way you did."

The court heard probation officials assessed Ruddy as being a "high risk of serious harm to members of the public."

Andrew Rutter, defending, said Ruddy's offending was "heavily influenced" by medication he had taken and his client would work to better himself in future.

Mr Rutter said: "He will do everything he can to address the underlying causes of his behaviour."