Man given life sentence for balloon festival attack

A man who launched a "terrifying and unprovoked assault" on two colleagues at a town's balloon festival has been given a life sentence.

Shane Freeman, 29, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of two counts of grievous bodily harm and one of aggravated burglary at the Racecourse, a park in Northampton, on 20 August 2023.

A two-week trial at Northampton Crown Court heard Freeman assaulted two men he had been working with at the town's annual balloon festival while they slept in a caravan at the site.

At his sentencing on Friday, he was told he would serve a minimum term of seven years and 88 days in prison before he was eligible to apply for parole.

Freeman's trial heard that he had been out for the evening with the two men when he became annoyed and left. He called one of them on the phone a short time later to make threats.

While the victims were asleep in their caravan, Freeman burst in and slashed one of them in the legs with a knife before chasing the other and hitting him repeatedly in the face.

He fled the scene but was arrested by police and subsequently charged.

Det Sgt Cory Wise from Northamptonshire Police said the victims "continue to suffer from the after-effects of this attack".

He said: "I am grateful for the support they have given us throughout the investigation, and I hope this result provides them with both some closure and some comfort."

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