Knifeman jailed for slash attack on Sunderland trainee teacher given extra time behind bars for South Shields burglary

Chris Bezuidenhout was jailed for three years in December for a street attack on a stranger in Sunderland, who he followed and then held a machete to his throat.

The victim's fingers were sliced open, down to the bone, as he tried to protect himself from the blade and he withdrew from his teacher training course as a result of his injuries.

The attack happened last April.

Bezuidenhout, 34, was back at Newcastle Crown Court to be sentenced for a burglary he committed in April 2020.

He appeared at the hearing via video link to prison.

The court heard he and another man smashed through the back door of a flat in South Shields and they stole two television sets while the mum who lived there was out.

Damage was caused to the back door.

The victim said in a statement burglary is a "horrific" crime and added: "I feel vulnerable, targeted and genuinely scared for my safety."

Mr Recorder Keir Monteith QC sentenced Bezuidenhout to an extra seven-and-a-half months behind bars for the break in.

The judge said the burglary clearly had a "significant impact" on the victim and told Bezuidenhout: "You and others invaded her personal space, where she lives.

"It is an area she said she should feel safe and she doesn't."

Andrew Espley, defending, said Bezuidenhout has no convictions for house burglary on his record and was "sofa surfing" at the time it was carried out.

Bezuidenhout, of no fixed address but formerly from Sunderland, admitted burglary.