Sunderland thug fails in bid to overturn knife attack conviction

Daniel Brian Sayers, 35, left his victim fighting for his life following the knife attack at a house in Tel El Kebir Road, Hendon, Sunderland, in August last year.

Sayers, who was also ordered to serve an extended five-year period on licence at the end of his jail term, was branded “a dangerous individual” by police after he was imprisoned.

He was locked up earlier this year after he found guilty by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court of committing grievous bodily harm and possessing of an offensive weapon.

Sayers, 35, of no fixed address at the time of his conviction, took his case to London’s Court of Appeal on Thursday.

While his appeal for permission to make a full challenge against the jury’s verdict was dismissed, a similar legal bid against the length of his sentence was adjourned.

Newcastle Crown court heard in February how Sayers and a group of friends were drinking into the early hours of August 1 before the savage attack happened.

A disagreement broke out between him and a 48-year-old man shortly after 3am as Sayers, angered over a supposed debt owed to him, slashed across the victim’s throat with a curved blade.

His victim needed life-saving surgery after his trachea and neck muscles were laid bare from the six-inch wound.

The jury was told Sayers threatened witnesses if they attempted to contact police before refusing to co-operate with detectives himself after his arrest.

Detective Constable Graham Laverick, of Northumbria Police, said after February’s verdict: "This was a vicious attack that left the victim with catastrophic neck injuries."The wound was so deep that his windpipe was visible when emergency services arrived. We could so easily have been looking at a homicide investigation."Daniel Sayers is a dangerous individual who willingly carried a knife and inflicted significant injuries on his victim as a result of his own frustration. There can be little doubt that the city is safer with him behind bars.”

A date for the next stage of Sayers’ remaining appeal has still to be confirmed.