A machete-wielder who struck his victim in the back of the head in a dispute over a ‘bike wheel debt’ has been convicted of wounding with intent.

Todd Kent, 55, had claimed that the wound to Danny Barron’s head was caused accidentally when the latter stood up after bending down to pick up keys from the floor.

But jurors at Oxford Crown Court appeared to reject that suggestion by a majority of 10 to two, convicting him of wounding Mr Barron with intent to do him grievous bodily harm.

Jurors had returned to court after little more than four hours of deliberations, saying in a note that they had not reached a unanimous verdict.

Told by trial judge Recorder John Bate-Williams that he would now accept a majority verdict, the jury briefly retired before returning court a few minutes later to deliver the guilty verdict.

READ MORE: Man struck in the head with machete over 'bike wheel debt', court told

The judge remanded Kent into custody to be sentenced on Friday morning.

During the trial, victim Mr Barron told the jury that he had been chatting to two women at the corner of The Lees and Southampton Street, Faringdon, on June 8 when he saw Kent approach with a machete in his hand.

He had felt ‘scared’, he told members of the jury. It was suggested that Kent claimed to have been owed a debt over a ‘bike wheel’ and although they had previously had ‘words’ about the claim it had never come to blows.

Mr Barron said Kent used the machete to knock some keys – worn on a ‘quick release’ lanyard around his neck – to the ground.

As he bent down to pick them up he felt a ‘sharp pain’ to the back of his head and realised he was bleeding.

The defendant was alleged to have threatened to cut his head off as he retreated back to his house. The victim believed the threat was directed at both him and the two women he was with.

READ MORE: Psychic alpaca's World Cup predictions

He said Kent also told him, seemingly in a reference to the bike wheel debt, to ‘get it sorted’. “I said, ‘I’ll do what I can,’” he told the jury.

CCTV showed Kent leaving his block of flats within minutes of the attack carrying a plastic bag-wrapped item then returning half a minute later without the package.

A machete wrapped in a bag was later recovered from an electrical box nearby.

Kent claimed not to have caused the injury deliberately. But when it was put to Mr Barron that his head had knocked the machete as he stood up, he denied the suggestion – and maintained that he was crouching down when he was struck.

The defendant, of The Lees, Faringdon, will be sentenced on Friday, December 9.  

Read more from this author

This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward