Poker addict stabs teenager in U.K.

A firefighter with an online gambling addiction has been jailed for stabbing a teenager at an Indian restaurant and running over a waiter with his vehicle.

John Trivett, 40, from Barnwood in Gloucester, stabbed Piers Neveu, 16, four times in the head and body following an altercation. He also turned on a young waiter at the Polash restaurant in Abbeymead, running over him with his car.

His defense claims the attack stemmed from Trivett's gambling debts, which left him a "walking volcano." Trivett ran up debts of £47,500 playing online poker.

Trivett had gone to the Indian restaurant to pick up some take-out and started chatting with Neveu and his friends. When Piers asked Trivett, who was drunk, to leave them alone, he replied, "Are you having a laugh? You're 10 seconds away from a head-butt. You are dancing with the devil."

He was persuaded to leave and was ushered out of the door, but half-an-hour later returned armed with a five-inch kitchen knife and stabbed Piers.

The teenager tried to get away and Trivett followed him out of the restaurant, pursued by 19-year-old waiter Marif Qureshi.

When Qureshi threw a tray at Trivett's windshield, the man turned on him and drove his car at him. Qureshi was not seriously hurt.

courtesy of Lianne Elias

News Added: 20 May, 2006

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