James Kaine found not guilty of wounding with intent (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Jury cleared Kaine of attacking Jay Medcraft and Jack Richardson in Buckskin

1:00pm Saturday 9th March 2013 in News By Chris Gregory

A MAN accused of knifing his housemate in the face has been found not guilty of wounding with intent.

James Kaine, 37, was alleged to have attacked Jay Medcraft, 20, in a shared house in Cheviot Close, Buckskin, in the early hours of June 17 last year.

But a jury at Winchester Crown Court took just over two hours to acquit Mr Kaine of two counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

They accepted Mr Kaine’s explanation that he had acted in self-defence.

The defendant was alleged to have cut the face of his sleeping housemate and to have punched him as he woke up. Mr Medcraft suffered a cut down one side of his face and three stab wounds to his right buttock.

Prosecutor Edward Phillips said that Mr Kaine had then gone on to punch Mr Medcraft’s friend, Jack Richardson, while still holding the knife, before setting off a fire extinguisher.

Mr Phillips alleged that the incident had been sparked by Mr Richardson’s refusal to supply Mr Kaine with cannabis.

But Robert Pawson, defending Mr Kaine, told the jury that his client did not intentionally inflict any injuries.

He said that Mr Kaine had knocked on the door of Mr Medcraft’s room after becoming annoyed that he and his friends were making too much noise, and had acted to defend himself when Mr Medcraft became aggressive.

Mr Kaine told a jury that it had been Mr Medcraft who had the knife in his room and that the injury occurred as they scuffled.

He admitted spraying the fire extinguisher in a bid to flee the house.