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'You think you're hard? I'm going to kill you''You took a knife - and used it to devastating effect'NewsNicole Wootton-Cane Senior reporter05:59, 04 Jun 2025Updated 06:09, 04 Jun 2025Ethan

Waters(Image: GMP) A thug left an unarmed man with a 'fearsome gash' from his ear to his lip in an unprovoked attack. Ethan Waters gibed his victim about his past boxing training, telling

him 'you think you're hard', while drinking at someone's house.

The 21-year-old left the flat, returning with a lock knife, before 'pulling' the victim off the sofa and violently slashing him across the face, telling him 'I'm going to kill you'.

At a sentencing hearing on Monday (June 2), Manchester Crown Court heard the man was permanently scarred in the attack and, worried about frightening them, didn't see his children for a

year.

Prosecuting, Alistair Reid told the court that in the early hours of January 25, 2024, the victim was in 'good spirits' when he arrived at his friend's Stretford flat.

The atmosphere quickly soured as he was greeted by a 'hostile' Waters, who bullishly needled him about his past boxing training, asking him: "You think you're hard?."

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Article continues below Both Waters and the victim briefly left the flat. When he returned, the man was pulled aside by a third person who warned him to 'watch out mate,' the court heard.

Waters returned shortly after, flanked by another man, saying 'shall we all do it?' before demanding the victim speak to him in the kitchen and pulling him off the sofa. He then produced a

lock knife and told him: "I'm going to kill you."

Another witness, unaware Waters had a knife, tried to pull him away, but the thug lunged at the victim, slashing him 'from his lip to his ear' before telling him 'not to grass'.

The man was left 'bleeding heavily' and was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital in an ambulance for stiches. Waters was arrested three days later after hiding at a house in Salford.

The court heard he had previously received a suspended sentence order and was taken into custody. Mr Reid said the victim was 'scarred for life' in the attack, which has had a 'serious

impact' on his physical and mental health.

"He has not been able to see his daughter in fear of her reaction," he told the court. "It is a significant strain on family relationships as he pushes people away.

"He is forced to recount memories of the attack, particularly when looking at his reflection."

In a victim impact statement, the man wrote: "The memory of being attacked has haunted me. I go straight back to the terror and trauma of being cut open."

Mitigating, Alex Beevers said Waters, at HMP Forest Bank on remand, had 'appeared to make progress' during his stint in custody. He told the court Waters had been engaging with education

while behind bars and complying with treatment for his mental health conditions.

"He had a very difficult upbringing," he added. "He is somebody who has clearly been shaped by the adverse experiences he had in childhood."

Sentencing, Judge John Potter told Waters he had inflicted a 'fearsome gash,' adding he could have blinded the man. "It is a dreadful injury," he added.

"He will be permanently disfigured for the rest of his life. It has had a profound effect on him. He suffers from recurring nightmares.

"This was a gratuitous attack by you upon an unarmed man. You took a knife with you and used it to devastating effect. You were just five months into a suspended sentence."

He said he had read doctor's reports suggesting Waters suffers from mental psychosis, complex PTSD, and ADHD. "At the time of this attack you were not taking your medication," he said.

"You are somebody who has suffered in your childhood. Your suffering harm is no reason or justification whatsoever for you to slash someone in the face with a knife."

Article continues below He sentenced Waters, of Highfield Road, Stretford, to four years and six months.