A MAN has been jailed after he stabbed a dog walker in the chest and kicked him in an ‘terrifying’ attack.

Omar Chaudhry, of no fixed abode, has been imprisoned for 12 years after pleading guilty to stabbing a father-of-four in Baylis Park, Slough on December 20, 2021.

The 27-year-old had approached the man and asked for a cigarette before the attack happened. Reading Crown Court heard today (April 4) that the dog walker suffered from 300ml of blood loss, a collapsed lung and bleeding into the chest cavity.

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A pathologist said if the man had not received medical attention he could have died.

Chaudhry was initially charged on one count of attempted murder which went to trial. However, the proceedings collapsed due to an illness and Chaudhry pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of assault occasioning grevious bodily harm on the first day of retrial.

During sentencing, the court heard that the dog walker and Chaudhry were strangers when they encountered each other in the park shortly before 1am.

Chaudhry had been on the phone to his mother asking for a place to stay and when she refused the defendant was described as becoming ‘agitated’ and was heard saying: “I’m going to hurt myself or start on this person”.

The dog walker was on the phone to his neighbour at the time who heard a man approach him and ask for a cigarette.

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He then described the voice changing and sounding angry and could hear the dog, Bella, barking. The defendant could be heard saying: “Call the dog off or I’ll stab the dog.”

An eyewitness who lives near the park said he heard swearing and ran to an upstairs bedroom window where he saw the defendant kicking the dog walker on the ground before saying, ‘This is what you need’ and making a stabbing motion.

He described the incident as ‘terrifying’.

Chaudhry then fled the scene and police arrived 10 minutes later and took the dog walker to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. The dog was found tied to a nearby lamppost.

A stab wound to the chest was found to be 6cm deep and 1mm away from piercing the membrane wall of the heart.

Defending Chaudhry, Stephan Alfred said the defendant suffered from mental health issues. He added that it was the defendant’s case that some racist remarks had been made from the dog walker before the attack.

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Judge Heather Norton gave Chaudhry an extended sentence of 12 years imprisonment with a three-year extended licence.

He received a two-year concurrent sentence for possession of a bladed article.