A MAN has been jailed for 17 years for a “vicious and cowardly” attempted murder on a busy street.

Richard Emblow chased terrified Scott Hacking into the path of a car before repeatedly stabbing him with a knife he had brought to the scene.

The frenzied revenge attack, in Kirkgate, Shipley, on a sunny Saturday afternoon last summer was witnessed by at least 15 horrified onlookers.

Mr Hacking sustained devastating injuries to his legs when he was hit by a passing BMW and lay helpless in the road as Emblow knifed him in the thigh and chest. He rang his girlfriend to tell her how much he loved her because he feared he would die at the scene, the jury at Bradford Crown Court was told.

Yesterday, Emblow, 46, of Bradford Road, Bingley, was convicted of attempted murder on July 23, 2016, after pleading guilty at the start of his trial to an alternative charge of wounding Mr Hacking with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm. He also admitted possession of a lock knife in Shipley town centre. He was jailed in his absence by Judge David Hatton QC after choosing to stay in the court cells for the verdict and sentencing hearing.

The judge found that Emblow took the knife to the scene, rejecting his story that he picked it up by chance during his initial confrontation with Mr Hacking on a grassed area next to the Baptist Church, popular as a drinking spot for locals. The court heard that Emblow, who had shaved his head and was wearing a big leather jacket on a warm day, threatened Mr Hacking, who panicked and ran into the path of the BMW.

While he lay severely injured in the road, Emblow repeatedly lunged at him with the knife, striking him in the chest and piercing his lung. Emblow “cried and wailed” at the scene, saying Mr Hacking was “asking for it,” and “had to die.”

Judge Hatton said Mr Hacking feared for his life when he ran into the road and was struck by the car. Judge Hatton said: “He sustained devastating injuries to his lower limbs. Unmoved by that, the defendant set about him with the knife as he lay severely injured and largely helpless, and he thrust the knife several times at the prostrate Mr Hacking,”

Mr Hacking sustained a severe chest injury, either in the garden by the church or during the “frenzied attack” in the road. The judge said: “It was a vicious and cowardly attack on a defenceless man, committed in rage. It was a revenge attack for personal injustice by Mr Hacking against the defendant’s former girlfriend,”

Emblow’s sorrow at the scene was “largely for himself.”

“Knife crime and the possession of knives is abhorrent. He took a knife with him into the public arena and to the scene,” Judge Hatton said.

He conceded that Emblow was a volatile man who may have been provoked by Mr Hacking, who he accused of taking money from his vulnerable girlfriend.

Earlier, Emblow’s solicitor advocate, Andrew Walker, said his client had suffered mental health problems in the run-up to the attack. But a consultant psychiatrist who saw him a month afterwards saw no reason for a medical disposal of the case. Emblow was in an extremely distressed state in the court cells and would not be in the dock for the sentencing, Mr Walker said.

Mr Walker said he “snapped” on the day of the attack. “He has an extremely low threshold of tolerance and that has contributed to the “snapping.” He was provoked by prolonged stress,” Mr Walker said.

In the weeks before he knifed Mr Hacking, Emblow had cried daily, walking the streets day and night looking for his then girlfriend, Catherine Hogan. Prosecutor, Patrick Palmer, said there was no victim personal statement but he was unaware of any long-term effects.

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