A thug swung a knife outside a bar in the Printworks after being told he couldn’t take his drink outside. Wiktor Kuca, 21, erupted in fury and headbutted a doorman at Walkabout after being stopped with a bottle of WKD.
Just weeks earlier he had been part of a vicious attack on two men after a row over a drink at a pub in Eccles, a court heard. Kuca and a group of associates waited outside The Spinners Arms and kicked and stamped on them leaving one with a broken nose.
Despite having previous convictions for possession of a knife, he walked free from court after a judge said he had concluded on a ‘fine balance’ that there was a ‘realistic prospect of rehabilitation.’
Knife produced at Walkabout
Kuca was with a group of men and was carrying a bottle of the alcopop at the venue in Manchester city centre on March 21 last year, when he was approached by a member of the bar's security team, Manchester Crown Court heard.
“He told the defendant that he could not take the bottle with him, at which point the defendant refused and headbutted him”, Olivia Gatfield, prosecuting, said.
The member of the doorstaff tried to detain him, along with his colleagues, at which point she said Kuca ‘produced a knife’ and ‘swung it' at him. The blade was 'fortunately' folded away, said Ms Gatfield, however he tried to swing it a second time before dropping it after being kicked in the elbow, she added.
Police were called and he was arrested. He told officers during his police interview that he had drunk alcohol and taken cocaine over the course of the evening and admitted headbutting the doorman, the court heard. However he denied possession of the knife saying the situation ‘felt like a stitch up’, Ms Gatfield said.
In a statement read in court, the doorman said: "The incident made me feel like life is valuable. It has convinced me to wear more protective clothing for work, like my stab vest. It has made me re-evaluate my profession and my whole life, because I don't know who could be a danger to me and any day could be my last."
Attack outside The Spinners Arms
Just over a month earlier, Kuca was also involved in a ‘horrendous’ attack outside The Spinners Arms. Two men had been drinking and playing in the games room when they were approached by a group of eight men who claimed one of them was 'drinking one of their drinks.'
There was a 'verbal argument' during which one of the group snatched the man's drink away. That seemed to be the end of it but the row erupted again around 20 minutes later with one of the two men intervening to prevent any fighting between his friend and the group.
After being asked to leave by the landlord, CCTV showed Kuca’s group ‘waiting outside’ and attacking the two men as they later left the pub in the early hours of the following morning, inflicting ‘serious and sustained violence' on them, Ms Gatfield said.
Kuca was seen punching one of the men before 'jumping and stamping' on him twice whilst he was on the floor, the court heard. He and two others then punched the second man, who had attempted to act as peacemaker inside the pub, to the floor, where he was punched and kicked again. Kuca then stamped on his friend a further six times before the group eventually walked away, Ms Gatfield said.
The man who had tried to act as a peacemaker woke up on the floor and was told an ambulance had been called. He was taken to Salford Royal Hospital where it was found he had a broken nose and two black eyes, as well as bruising and cuts to the head.
In a victim impact statement, he said: "This has made me feel isolated and I moved back in with my dad for a while as I no longer felt safe at my own address. My confidence has been knocked and my anxiety has increased. I am looking to move out of this are as I no longer feel safe in Eccles. This attack has left me with permanent injuries, my broken nose is affecting my breathing, and I am starting to have headaches more. I also have permanent scars on my face"
Sentencing and judge's warning
'This was a horrendous attack on the individuals concerned'
Kuca, of Scotta Road, Eccles, pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to possession of a bladed article, assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) and affray. The court heard Kuca was subject to a suspended sentence at the time of the offences which he also admitted breaching. He had been sentenced to 11 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, in November 2023 for two previous offences of possession of a bladed article.
Emmanuel Coniah, defending, said Kuca had suffered significant 'trauma' as a child and had also been stabbed as a teenager which made him think he needed to carry a knife to ‘protect himself’ he said. He said Kuca, who had spent around seven months in custody on remand, no longer drank alcohol or took drugs. He was engaged, was a ‘father figure’ to his partner’s child and had good employment prospects if he was not sent immediately to prison, he added.
Recorder Andrew Vinson said that ‘carrying a knife is not something anyone in a civilised society should be doing’ and told Kuca ‘it must stop now.’ He described the violence at the Eccles pub as a ‘horrendous attack on the individuals concerned’ which ‘could have been far, far worse.’
He said despite his previous convictions, due to his age, and the fact that ‘steps had been taken’ to ‘try and address matters’ in his life, he believed ‘there remains a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.’ He said he had ‘only just’ decided that it would be ‘unjust’ to activate the suspended sentence, and as a result, was able to suspend Kuca’s overall sentence.
“This was a very, very fine balance” the judge told him. "If you find yourself in possession of a bladed article again, the sentence will be activated and there will be other consequences” he said.
Kuca was sentenced to a total of two years and four months, suspended for two years. He was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and to take part in the Building Choices Programme. He was also fined £1,000 for breaching the suspended sentence, and was ordered to pay £800 in compensation to the assault victim, and £150 in costs.
