A “violent and dangerous” man who slit a man’s throat with a Stanley knife in a pub has been jailed for 23 years.
Lewis Parker, of Keppel Road, Shiregreen, Sheffield, was already on bail for two separate violent assaults in pubs when he took the 
box cutter out with him into Hoyland town centre on March 14, 2025.
It was there in a Market Street pub he said something to upset a woman, who was defended by her 45-year-old partner – who Parker, at the time aged 21, then looked in the face and told “I’ll kill you.”
Out of fear, the other man threw a punch and a brawl broke out in the pub, with three of Parker’s friends jumping in.
Parker was forced outside and had the opportunity to walk away – but, instead, he re-entered the pub, drew and extended the Stanley knife hidden in his pocket, pushed a bouncer out the way who was blocking his target, pulled back his victim’s head, and cut his throat.
“It is by sheer chance he is still alive today,” said Her Honour Judge Sarah Wright at Parker’s sentencing at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday (Feb 19).
“It is only through your victim’s strength and courage, the skill of the surgeons at hospital, the actions of those at the scene and the paramedics who attended that he is still here today.
“You, meanwhile, showed no remorse, and were more interested in retrieving your expensive coat.”
The monstrous attack came as Parker was on bail for two other fights he threw himself into on separate occasions.
During one, in October 2023, he threw a bar stool and a glass as weapons, and in another in November 2024, he stood on a table wielding a pool cue before punching a woman.
“You are a violent, dangerous young man who easily resorts to causing serious harm in response to conflicts,” said the judge.
Parker later pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and claimed he had found the knife in the street outside a pub earlier that night, but also didn’t think to mention this to his friends or hand it in to bar staff.
“I completely reject this claim,” said the judge. “I’m entirely satisfied you went out with that Stanley knife in your possession so it was available to you as a weapon.
“Although your victim threw the first punch out of fear, what you then did went far beyond self defence.”
Parker’s victim recovered but has been left with a “large, visible scar” across his neck.
The wound caused nerve damage and the 45-year-old lives with partial facial paralysis.
In a letter to the judge, the man’s father explained their entire family has been affected by the attack and how his son lives with PTSD, while praising him for his “courage and bravery.”
The court heard Parker, who was found guilty by a jury in October 2025, has applied himself to education and finding work while in prison.
Judge Wright ruled the 22-year-old was ‘dangerous,’ which carries an extended sentence, saying: “Anyone who sees the CCTV from the public house that night will be rightly appalled by your deliberate action to cut the throat of your victim.
“You are a violent young man who poses a high risk of causing serious harm to others.”
Parker was jailed for 23 years, with an extended licence of three years. He must serve two-thirds of his time before being considered for parole.
Source – Yorkshire Post