Soldier jailed for barracks machete attack in Aldershot

An army colour sergeant who slashed a fellow soldier with a machete has been jailed for eight years.

A court heard John Norwood, 39, wanted to "put the fear of God" into his victim after the pair scuffled at a pub in Aldershot in 2015.

He was found guilty by a jury in August of wounding L/Sgt James Warnock with intent in the attack at Mons barracks.

It emerged during sentencing that Norwood was previously jailed for the culpable homicide of his uncle.

In an earlier trial at Winchester Crown Court, Norwood was cleared of attempting to murder L/Sgt Warnock.

But the jury was unable to reach a verdict on two other charges, leading to a retrial at Portsmouth.

The second jury heard how Norwood took a machete from the stores "to scare" his 24-year-old victim, who had punched him to the ground at the pub.

Norwood went to L/Sgt Warnock's room and sliced his shoulder, the court was told.

In a statement read to the court, the victim, who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, said: "I have known danger and faced enemy troops during these tours. The attack on me by John Norwood left me terrified for my own safety."

The court was told that Norwood, a father of two, was previously jailed for 18 months in 1996 for the culpable homicide of his uncle, Matthew Houston, who died after falling from a balcony in Glasgow during a fight.

Norwood, previously of Priesthill Road, Pollok, Glasgow, was also given a two-year sentence in 2000 for three counts of wounding following a pub fight in Burnley.

Alistair Wright, defending, said Norwood's case was "a loss to the Army and... to the rest of us because, but for these events, this is someone you would want looking after your country".