Hertfordshire man guilty of machete attack

A man has been found guilty of chopping off a teenager's hand with a machete.

Che Ambe, 21, struck 19-year-old Tyler Stevens with the blade as he curled up on a grass verge in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire.

Jurors at St Albans Crown Court found Ambe, of Caractacus Cottage View, Watford, guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

The trial had previously heard Mr Stevens was also in possession of a knife at the time he was injured.

Prosecutor Simon Wilshire said the teenager was struck six or seven times with the weapon on Long Elms in the village, near Watford.

Despite the efforts of surgeons, Mr Stevens' hand could not be reattached after the attack on 10 February.

Judge Michael Kay QC adjourned sentencing pending a report to assess the danger Ambe posed to the public.

He was remanded into custody and will be sentenced in September.

Mr Stevens had been walking back from a supermarket with a friend when Ambe approached them on a moped. All three knew each other and did not get on, the court heard.

When they saw Ambe, the pair ran. The friend escaped, but Mr Stevens, then 18, slipped on a grass verge.

Asked to describe the attack, he said: "I thought I was going to die.

"I don't know why it [the attack] stopped - maybe he saw my hand come off and thought that was too much."

Ambe was arrested after the police deployed a stinger to puncture the tyres of his moped - but initially said he was not present during the attack.

However, during the trial, the jury were told he claimed he was acting in self-defence after Mr Stevens produced a knife and waved it at him.