A TEENAGE beggar tried to stab a shopper who did not give him any money after he had watched him help out another rough sleeper.

Norman Lowes followed the man in Middlesbrough town centre and pulled out a knife and lunged at him, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 19-year-old said to two lunchtime passers-by on Linthorpe Road: “Shall I stab him or not?”

Lowes swiped at the man again as he got out his mobile phone and said he was calling the police.

The teenager warned him: “Just leave it or next time it will be a bigger knife.”

The man had bravely grabbed Lowes and pushed him away with his knee during his first attempt to stab him, said prosecutor Paul Abrahams.

He said in an impact statement: “I feared for his life. I thought I was going to be stabbed.”

The drama on August 3 was while Lowes was on bail for fracturing the leg of a police officer who had spent hours looking after him following claims of overdoses.

PC Brian McLaren was back and forwards between hospital and a psychiatric unit with the teenager for blood tests for dangerous levels of paracetamol.

The pair ended up back at Roseberry Park, and while waiting for an assessment, Lowes became agitated, made threats to harm his partner and himself.

During a struggle, his left leg between his ankle and shin “cracked”.

PC McLaren needed surgery to put a plate and pins in his leg, and returned to frontline duties last month – nine months on.

He told in an impact statement the heart-wrenching effect it has had on his ten-year-old son, who is suffering sleepless nights and anxiety.

“He said he wanted to become a police officer and I asked why,” he said. “He broke down crying, and said he wanted to come to work with me to stop people hurting me.”

Lowes, of Harford Street, Middlesbrough, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and threatening a person with a blade, and was jailed for three years and ten months.

His lawyer, Kelleigh Lodge, said the teenager had been suffering from undiagnosed mental health problems, but was now on medication to combat them.

Judge Howard Crowson told Lowes: “The police officer had shown commendable patience and care towards you and tried to help you at every stage.”

  • Clarification: The initial version of this story carried a photo of the wrong man. We showed a picture of Gareth Salt, who had been sentenced the same day after pleading guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. We apologise for any confusion.