Phone Stabbing: Four Jailed

16 June 2014, 19:06 | Updated: 16 June 2014, 19:08

Four men - including two from London - have been jailed for a stabbing over a mobile phone that led to a man losing his arms and legs.

Ernest Moyo, known as Joe, was so badly injured that he suffered an infection, putting his organs at risk and leaving doctors no choice but to amputate his arms and legs to give him a chance of survival, Sussex Police said.

Mr Moyo, who was 25 at the time of the attack in August 2012, was stabbed once in the thigh and twice in the abdomen following a fight at a party in Pavilion Road, Worthing, West Sussex.

He was found in the road by emergency services, a police spokesman said.

Mr Moyo had little recollection of what had happened and his family were so distressed that at first they told him he had been in a car crash.

Patrick Brookes, 27, from Worthing, and Jeremiah Reynolds, 26, from Walthamstow, east London, were jailed for 16 years and 15 years respectively at Hove Crown Court after being found guilty in March of grievous bodily harm with intent.

Dominic Brookes, 19, a student from Croydon, and 18-year-old Trey Johnson, from Worthing, were found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent at Hove Crown Court in August, and were both sentenced to 15 years.

Mr Moyo's fiancee Amy said his family and friends were relieved the men had been convicted and faced years in prison.

She said: "For two to three months every day both our families visited him hoping and praying, before finally he was taken off the life support.

"Joe and myself will have to deal with his injuries every day for the rest of our lives as we make a future together, making our lives totally different from what they would have been."

Detective Constable Laura Sinden said: "The attack happened after a row about a mobile phone and escalated into a young man almost losing his life. The injuries Joe sustained from the stab wounds have meant he had to have his limbs amputated and therefore the consequences of that night will be with him for the rest of his life.

"This was a vicious attack that left Joe fighting for his life in the middle of the road.

"We have worked hard, and with the support of Joe's family, to bring these men to justice."