Stanley Farnon (59) had his sentence for stabbing a man in the stomach reduced by a year as an ‘act of mercy’ because his ex-wife is dying of cancer and they have an 18-year-old daughter.
In April Farnon faced a three-day Assize trial because he denied attempting to kill bank worker Paul Romeril on 7 June last year in Mulcaster Street. The jury of six men and six women acquitted Farnon of attempted murder but found him guilty of a grave and criminal assault, which he had admitted.
Yesterday Crown Advocate Howard Sharp moved for a sentence of five years because the attack took place in broad daylight on a busy Saturday in a public place and the defendant had entered the Royal Yacht bar with a kitchen knife. Defence Advocate David Hopwood moved for a ‘heavy community service order’ as recommended by the Probation Service.
