A 42-year-old man from South East London has been found guilty of participating in a machete assault against a father of three within the victim’s residence. Following a trial that lasted nearly two weeks at Nottingham Crown Court, a jury took just two hours to reach a unanimous verdict against Tyrone Dowdye, a resident of Herbert Road in Plumstead, for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Lifowe Chilink.
The court proceedings revealed that three masked individuals invaded Mr. Chilink’s home in Chilwell, Nottingham, where one of them attacked him with a machete as retribution for an incident involving his son, who had assaulted a prisoner while incarcerated. Dowdye, who denied any involvement in the attack, was reported to have stood at the entrance filming the incident, during which another assailant was heard encouraging the attacker to „chop him.“
Evidence presented during the trial included a memory stick containing footage of the assault, which was discovered by a prison officer on top of a locker at HMP Manchester, where Mr. Chilink’s son, Judah, was serving his sentence. The prosecution argued that the video had been intentionally placed there to inform others that the attack had occurred.
The prosecutor stated, „The prosecution say this was a revenge attack because of whatever incident Judah had been involved in at HMP Manchester and that the video on the USB had been deliberately placed on the locker so those inside were aware that the attack (in Chilwell) had taken place.“
In a video interview played as evidence during the trial, the victim described the harrowing experience: „I could see silhouettes through the glass of the front door and then three masked men came bursting in. I saw one of them run into the lounge where my wife was and he then came back and into the hallway where I was. I was on the stairs and he said ‚come down, come down.‘ I was sure I was going to die. He came up the stairs waving a machete around and I started to defend myself.“
Mr. Chilink recounted how the assailant struck him repeatedly with the weapon, stating, „He was hitting my body with it, the blows were coming into my left-hand side. I grabbed the bannister to hoist myself up but he kept swinging. The handle was about 10cm long and the blade was around 30cm, it was metal shiny, silver.“ The attack occurred at approximately 1:50 PM on January 26, 2022.
During the trial, prosecutor David Earl highlighted that while the victim was being assaulted, another accomplice was encouraging the attacker, while Dowdye remained by the front door recording the incident.
In a statement presented to the jury, Mr. Chilink’s wife, Zebi, described the terrifying moment when the intruders entered their home: „Three people came crashing in while I was giving my eight-year-old daughter medication. After the men fled, I went to the hallway where my injured husband was. He was badly injured; there was a deep wound to his arm, and he said to me, ‚they have cut me everywhere.'“
At the time of the incident, Dowdye was residing in Kendal Drive, St Helens, Merseyside, and is currently living on Herbert Road in Plumstead, London. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30. The other two individuals involved in the attack remain unidentified and at large.
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Bildquelle: Bildquelle: Ian Taylor auf Unsplash
