A stabber who swiped a kebab knife then plunged it into the leg of a man who was attacking his friend claimed the judge who heard his trial was ‘biased’.

The Court of Appeal dismissed that suggestion as they threw out Anton Mullings’ request to appeal his conviction for wounding with intent.

Mullings was jailed for four-and-a-half years in 2019 after jurors found him guilty of stabbing another man in Oxford city centre in the early hours of November 26, 2016.

The defendant friend had earlier been struck by the victim. Mullings snatched a 30cm vegetable knife from the Posh Nosh kebab van in Queen Street and chased after the man. He stabbed his victim in the leg.

Two Posh Nosh employees hauled Mullings off his victim. The stabber was pointed out to police by one of the kebab van workers.

Mullings, then 26, represented himself at his trial at Oxford Crown Court in 2019. His defence was summarised by Judge Thomas QC as being ‘obstructive’.

Rather than challenge the prosecution's identification of him as the knifeman, he challenged much of the process of his trial – including one of the witnesses being granted an interpreter.

On Friday, Mullings’ request for permission to appeal his conviction for wounding with intent came before three judges at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

“The main thrust of the appeal is the judge was biased against the applicant,” Judge Thomas QC said.

But the Court of Appeal concluded that Judge Nigel Daly, who presided over the trial at Oxford Crown Court, had dealt with the case ‘impeccably’.

Far from showing bias against the applicant he bent over backwards to assist him,” Judge Thomas said on Friday.

“The applicant sought to introduce as hearsay a police interview with [the victim]. In that, [he] spoke about buying drugs from the applicant. This was not a matter otherwise before the jury. The judge pointed out to the applicant that if he acceded to the applicants request to introduce that statement it would have been likely to have done him more harm than good in the eyes of the jury.”

That refusal by the judge to let the jury hear he'd allegedly supplied drugs was put forward by Mullings as evidence of the judge’s supposed bias against him, the Court of Appeal heard.

Judge Thomas added: “We find nothing to substantiate the claim here this was an unsafe conviction and accordingly the application is refused.”

Mullings, formerly of Bluebell Court, Greater Leys, did not appear to attend the court hearing on Friday morning.

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