Joshua Gardner: Croydon ‘zombie knife’ attacker jailed after sentence ruled unduly lenient

Teenager was caught on camera trying to smash car window to attack driver in Croydon

A teenager filmed attacking a car with a large “zombie knife” in a London street has been jailed after judges ruled a suspended sentence was too lenient.

Joshua Gardner, now 18, walked free from court in November after being convicted of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, affray and possessing an offensive weapon.

An Old Bailey judge sentenced him to two years imprisonment but suspended the term for two years, meaning he would not go to jail unless he committed further offences.

On Wednesday, the solicitor general argued the sentence was insufficient at the Court of Appeal and judges jailed Gardner for three-and-a-half years.

His original sentence was branded “ridiculous” by some commentators, with police officers taking to social media to voice their concern that the case would not act as a deterrent.

Judge Anuja Dhir QC was told that Gardner carried the large “zombie” knife because he had previously been kidnapped.

The court heard that the teenager was held for 10 days in March last year after being bundled into a car and threatened with a gun because of a friend’s drug debt.

Gardner, then 17, was forced to work in a “trap house” and sell drugs by the gang.

He launched his attack two months later, during afternoon rush hour on 30 May.

He pulled up on his bicycle alongside a car with a 19-year-old man inside while it was sat in stationary traffic in Croydon.

The car tried to pull away but almost hit Gardner’s bike and crashed, Gardner started kicking the vehicle and hitting the windows with his knife while trying to open the doors.

He eventually managed to smash the passenger window, and attempted to stab the victim through the hole before the man got out and fled.

The incident was witnessed by passers-by including parents who had collected their children from school.

Gardner’s outburst of violence was caught on dash-cam footage of a vehicle that was travelling in the opposite direction.

The footage was circulated widely on social media, amid heightened public concern over record levels of knife crime, and Gardner was recognised and arrested by police.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said the ruling showed there were “serious consequences for carrying a knife”.

Joshua Gardner, 18, was originally jailed for two years but the sentence was suspended (Metropolitan Police)

“I wrote to the attorney general in November to make the case that not giving Gardner a custodial sentence for aggressively wielding a zombie knife in broad daylight risked undermining public confidence,” he added.

Speaking outside the court the solicitor general, Robert Buckland QC MP, said Gardner had “terrorised” both his victim and members of the public who witnessed the attack.

He added: “I am pleased that the Court of Appeal has today decided that a custodial sentence is more appropriate to help prevent Gardner from posing a threat to anyone else.”

The Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme lets anyone, even those not involved in the case, ask for Crown Court sentences for particular offences to be reviewed if they believe it is too low.