Philip Beardwell Secures Life Sentence for Coventry Knife Attacker

On 18^th September, Philip Beardwell prosecuted Kevin Coleman for offences of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and having a bladed article in a public place.

The case was a late return from a CPS in-house lawyer. Coleman’s previous convictions included a term of 11 years for wounding with intent and false imprisonment. He had been declared a dangerous offender twice before . On this occasion he pulled a kitchen knife on someone unknown to him, without provocation, whilst walking through Coventry City Centre in the early hours of the 12^th July 2025. He slashed the man’s face open from the top of his head down to his lip. His victim will be badly scarred for the rest of his life.

The Judge declared that it was only a matter of time until the defendant killed someone and described him as being highly dangerous. He imposed a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 6 years, 9 months and 27 days on the basis that this was a “second strike” offence of wounding with intent.