An 18-year-old thug from London has walked free after a judge ruled he had been too traumatized after he’d been kidnapped. This, despite the fact that he used a zombie knife to smash the window of a VW that had nearly hit him, in an attempt to get to the driver.
Joshua Gardner was 17 at the time the attack took place. The incident was captured on the dashcam of another car and was widely circulated on social media earlier this year. It showed Gardner losing his mind after a blue Volkswagen Polo nearly him him on his bike, taking out a zombie knife from the waistline of his pants and using it to get to the driver.
The court has ruled that he “probably” knew the driver, an 19-year-old man who has not been identified, The Telegraph reports. As you can see in the video at the bottom of the page, Gardner used the knife to hit the window and the door on the driver side, hoping to gain access to the driver.
When he couldn’t, he moved to the other side and used the knife again to break the window. That’s when the driver got out and ran for his life. He wasn’t injured in the attack and returned to his car when Gardner had left on his bike.
Yesterday, a judge ruled that Gardner was traumatized after he’d been kidnapped only weeks before the attack. He was still found guilty and sentenced, but won’t serve a day.
“There was an incident of kidnapping between about March 26 and April 2, so a relatively short period of time before you committed this offense,” the judge told him. “You were bundled into a car, and threatened with a gun because of a drug debt that a friend of yours had run up. You were then taken to a place referred to as a trap house for ten days and you were made to sell drugs to work off the debt.”
The judge stressed that Gardner’s act showed excessive violence and a complete disregard for anyone’s wellbeing (the incident occurred in broad daylight, on a busy street). Still, the kidnapping diminished some of his responsibility for it, so despite being found guilty, he won’t go to jail.
Gardner was found guilty of attempted great bodily harm, affray and carrying an offensive weapon, and was sentenced to 2 years, 1 year and 1 year respectively, to run concurrently. The sentence was suspended for 2 years, and he will have to follow a rehabilitation program, do unpaid work and keep a curfew for 9 months.
The court has ruled that he “probably” knew the driver, an 19-year-old man who has not been identified, The Telegraph reports. As you can see in the video at the bottom of the page, Gardner used the knife to hit the window and the door on the driver side, hoping to gain access to the driver.
When he couldn’t, he moved to the other side and used the knife again to break the window. That’s when the driver got out and ran for his life. He wasn’t injured in the attack and returned to his car when Gardner had left on his bike.
Yesterday, a judge ruled that Gardner was traumatized after he’d been kidnapped only weeks before the attack. He was still found guilty and sentenced, but won’t serve a day.
“There was an incident of kidnapping between about March 26 and April 2, so a relatively short period of time before you committed this offense,” the judge told him. “You were bundled into a car, and threatened with a gun because of a drug debt that a friend of yours had run up. You were then taken to a place referred to as a trap house for ten days and you were made to sell drugs to work off the debt.”
The judge stressed that Gardner’s act showed excessive violence and a complete disregard for anyone’s wellbeing (the incident occurred in broad daylight, on a busy street). Still, the kidnapping diminished some of his responsibility for it, so despite being found guilty, he won’t go to jail.
Gardner was found guilty of attempted great bodily harm, affray and carrying an offensive weapon, and was sentenced to 2 years, 1 year and 1 year respectively, to run concurrently. The sentence was suspended for 2 years, and he will have to follow a rehabilitation program, do unpaid work and keep a curfew for 9 months.