WHITWELL:MOD BOSS ATTACKED EMPLOYEE WITH WINE GLASS AND BUTTER KNIFE

A Ministry of Defence manager who attacked an employee with a wine glass before stabbing him with a butter knife has been jailed for 20 months.

Wayne Whitwell, 40, also used a vase to bludgeon Neil Stacey when he launched the drunken attack at a  colleague’s retirement party.

Whitwell, who was suspended following the incident, now faces losing his job within the government department which he has held for 20 years.

He was Mr Stacey’s line manager at the MoD and the two men had been out drinking together with other civil servants on October 25 last year.

Southwark Crown Court heard the two men had worked together since 2003 and had not had a great relationship.

Mr Stacey blamed his boss for the fact he had not been promoted.

In a statement he said he had confronted his boss that afternoon over his management style, but Whitwell said he ‘didn’t care and was just in it for the money.’

An argument broke out between them when the group moved on to an Indian restaurant in Charing Cross Road and Mr Stacey interrupted Whitwell’s conversation with a female colleague.

Whitwell then tried to pour a drink over Mr Stacey, who responded by punching him in the face.

Whitwell then waited several minutes before launching his attack.

Gavin Ludlow-Thompson, prosecuting, said: ‘First of all the defendant grabbed a wine glass from the table and endeavoured to use it to strike his victim.

‘He then picked up a bottle which he tried to smash but didn’t succeed, so he threw it on the floor.

‘Next he grabbed the table vase – that he didn’t smash, but he struck the victim with it.’

As Whitwell rained down blows on Mr Stacey, their table was pushed out into the middle of the restaurant, causing a terrified pregnant woman to be pinned against a wall and unable to escape.

Whitwell then armed himself with a butter knife as he continued the attack.

Mr Ludlow-Thompson added: ‘The victim was on the ground in a foetal position and the defendant had got him in a headlock.

‘He struck him initially with the vase and then with the butter knife, which he was using to stab him in the back of the neck.’

The court heard none of the men’s colleagues ‘appeared at all interested’ and a bystander was forced to intervene and pull Whitwell away.

The victim was taken to St Thomas’ Hospital and treated for five large gashes and three smaller cuts to his face and head.

He also had bruises and cuts to his collar bone area, caused by the butter knife.

Whitwell admitted causing grievous bodily harm and assault causing actual bodily harm for the attacks on Mr Stacey and affray, for trapping the pregnant diner with the table.

Barry Gregory, defending, said Whitwell did not remember carrying out the attack.

He added: ‘Mr Whitwell is devastated by what happened. He has shown real remorse.

‘He doesn’t know how he could have done what he did and can only believe it had something to do with the drinking.

‘He has a young family and now faces losing his job completely, a job he has held within the civil service for 20 years.’

Whitwell has been suspended since the night of the incident and has been undergoing treatment for depression and anxiety.

Mr Gregory said the civil servant feared his marriage was under threat because of the strain caused by the court case.

Sentencing Whitwell to 20 months in prison the judge, Mr Recorder Louis Weston, described the case as a ‘tragedy.’

‘Not just for victim of your attack but mostly for those around you, your family and your children,’ he said.

‘You are a 40-year-old man of good character, of whom people speak very highly, and I’m impressed by your remorse. But this offence was outrageous.’

Whitwell, of Somerset Avenue, Welling, Kent, will be released on licence after serving half his sentence in custody.
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