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ATTACK AT WORK: Man found guilty of stabbing colleague in the neck at Warner Bros Studios

 Published on: 19th March 2021   |   By: Court Reporter   |   Category: Uncategorized

A simmering row between two stagehands over a cup of tea on film set where Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway was filming, boiled over into violence when one slashed the other’s neck with a Stanley knife.

It happened in the set of The Witches where the star was filming in 2019 at the Warner Bros studios in Leavesden.

The victim, Darren Langford told a jury when he put his hand up to touch the wound, which was pouring blood, he could feel his little finger enter his flesh.

Thinking an artery might have been severed, he said he thought he was going to die and rang his wife to tell her he loved her.

Darren, 44, and his attacker Johnny Walker were working on the set where the film version of Ronald Dahl’s story was being shot.

On Thursday, March 18, 56-year-old Walker was found guilty of wounding the father of five, Mr Langford with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

He had earlier admitted a lesser charge of unlawful wounding.

Walker, of Buckingham Road, Borehamwood was told he will be sentenced in May to allow his defence team to obtain medical reports because he suffers from anxiety and depression.

Recorder Stephan Lennard told him a substantial sentence was however inevitable.

Darren Langford told the court he had known Mr Walker for around 18 months at the time at they had met while working on another film at the Shepperton Film Studios.

He said as he arrived at the yard to see other workers helping themselves to refreshments that had been laid out by the stage area.

As he went to get himself a cup of tea and told the jury: “I approached the stage and could see John almost glance over his shoulder at me with a tea in his hand and grab the last remaining tea. I thought this is getting childish.”

“I then said ‘Why are you being such a c*** to me, and he stood up with a very angry face and said ‘because you are a c***. You are a grassing c***.’”

He told the court by now the defendant was even challenging him to go round to the back of the stage and fight him.

“I had no intention of fighting him. I mentioned his age and my age. I said we are not at school – grow up” said Mr Langford. 

He said he “almost froze” on hearing the word ‘cut’ and it was then he could see the blade of a Stanley knife protruding from the defendant’s hand.

He went on “In my head I was thinking this has gone way too far and I pleaded with him to put the knife down. I was saying ‘You are going to lose your job John. Just put the knife down but he had gone – his eyes were wild.

“All the time he had got that snarl and he was saying I am going kill you, I am going to cut you,” he said.

The father of five then told the court: “He lunged so quickly, and I dodged back and felt it hit my throat. I was in sheer panic mode.”

He went on: “My fingers went into the cut, so I knew it was a bad cut. I was in a panic thinking I was going to bleed out.”

He told the jury of his thoughts at the time saying: “That’s it I am done for, you don’t survive having your throat cut.”

It was then, he said he decided to phone his wife and tell her he loved her adding: “I had accepted I was going to die.”

Mr Langford said he feared the main artery in his neck had been severed and when a paramedic turned up to treat him, he asked him to inspect the wound.

He told the jury “He said I can see it – it’s not been cut.”

Walker told the jury he had only wanted at first to frighten Langford. He claimed he had lashed out intending to punch the other man and hadn’t intended to cut him.

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