Waltham Forest man sentenced to ten years following knife attacks

Arslan Ahmed was found guilty of three counts of GBH (Pic-Met Police)

A 20-year-old from Waltham Forest has been sentenced to ten years imprisonment following a spate of knife attacks. 

Arslan Ahmed, of Leyton, was found guilty of two counts of section 18 GBH and one count of section 20 GBH in July at Snaresbrook Crown Court. 

He also had an accomplice, a 16-year-old male, who can’t be named for legal reasons, who has been jailed for just under three years for two counts of section 18 GBH and one of ABH. 

The first attack happened on 7 September 2018, police responded to reports of a fight in Forest Road where they found a 16-year-old boy with stab injuries to his neck. Fortunately, the boy survived.

Ahmed was identified and arrested on suspicion of GBH before being released under investigation. He wasn’t charged until March 2020.

On 6 January 2019, both Ahmed and his accomplice got off the 158 bus from Blackhorse Road Tube Station and a fight broke out.

An 18-year-old was repeatedly stabbed in their upper body and they needed a month in hospital to recover. 

In October of the same year, Ahmed and his accomplice were involved in an incident in Bradford where a man was stabbed and attacked. His injuries were not life-threatening. 

The 16-year-old male was also involved in an unprovoked attack in Marconi Road, where a 15-year-old boy was stabbed multiple times and taken to hospital.  

The duo were sentenced on Friday, 15 October. 

Detective Constable Kelly Jones, North East Command Unit, said: “None of the victims did anything to warrant the extreme violence they were subjected to, but on each occasion were thrust into nightmarish scenarios that went from just exchanging words to knives being pulled and used.

“Some of these horrifying and sudden events were carried out, without any apparent care, in front of scores of onlookers who were left absolutely terrified by what was unfolding. In the January 2019 incident, but for the skill of doctors and nurses, the victim could have died. It could have easily been a murder investigation instead.

“Arslan Ahmed and his accomplice are dangerous and habitual knife carriers.’’

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