The injuries which Barbadian Tharel Thompson suffered when he was attacked with a knife while on holiday in the United Kingdom in February this year, may affect his life expectancy.
That was the evidence given by neurosurgeon Ernest Sinar recently during the second day of the trial of Jahlil Charles, 22, and Krisma Anthony, 23, a soldier serving in the British Army.
They have both been charged and pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of 28-year-old Thompson. The case is being heard at the Reading Crown Court.
The neurosurgeon told the court that Thompson, who was stabbed three times in the head, suffered “a major stroke”.
“He’s not going to work. He’s going to require help with dressing and undressing. He’s a major stroke victim – except he’s a young man. He’s going to require care and assistance – everything,” the doctor said.
The jury was shown a black flip-knife which police retrieved from Anthony’s room in Woolwich Barracks. Blood samples found on the knife, as well as on a hat, jacket and trainers belonging to him, were all linked to Thompson.
Sinar, a consultant neurosurgeon with more than two decades of experience, further told the court: “They initially thought he [Thompson] was going to die and there wasn’t much that could be done.”
Thompson then underwent a three-and-a-half hour surgery in an attempt to save his life, according to Sinar.
Last Wednesday, the first witness called by the prosecution described the scene as the attack in the Walkabout Bar unfolded. He testified that he saw Thompson “repeatedly punched in the face . . . very hard, very forceful”.
“Things progressed very, very quickly. All of a sudden there was a lot of shouting and screams,” he said.
He said Thompson “wasn’t reacting at all – arms down, not striking back” – and when he “turned to us, blood was spurting out from what looked like the middle of his face”.
The witness told the court the attack was over in 40 seconds.
Prosecutor Jonathan Stone, in his opening remarks, showed the jury a video of the attack, which he described as “difficult to watch”.
The video began by showing Charles and Thompson in discussion in the toilet area corridor.
The prosecutor told the jury: “It doesn’t appear to be a heated conversation. As you can see, they both fist bump.”
However, the situation quickly escalated thereafter.
The prosecutor argued that the video showed Charles dealt the first strike to the victim, before “three sideways blows dealt by accused Anthony – blows that were committed with a blade.”
Stone further told the court that the pair carried out a “joint attack”, which he described as a “callous, vicious and a violent assault with a deadly weapon that was in no way justified’.
He said that after the incident, the two accused spent more than an hour in a Reading strip club. “They didn’t wait around. They left. They didn’t stay to suggest that they had been attacked.”
