A former professional footballer robbed a teenager and stabbed him with a “Rambo” knife, a court heard.
Causso Darame, who was signed by then Premier League side Swansea City when he was 16, left Ronnie Evans with “life-changing injuries” following the attack in May last year.
The failed winger stabbed Mr Evans, who was 19 at the time, in the leg before taking his neck chain and bracelet during the robbery in Hampshire.
Darame, who once compared himself to football stars Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, said he turned to a life of crime after he was dropped by Swansea City.
The 25-year-old, originally from Portugal, said he felt like he “failed” his partner and their newborn child, and reportedly turned to dealing heroin and crack cocaine.
The father-of-one, from Cardiff, missed an artery in Mr Evans’s leg by “millimetres” when he stabbed him, a court heard.
His victim was left suffering “indescribable pain” after two nerves were severed in the attack.
Darame was jailed for four years and four months at Portsmouth Crown Court after he admitted robbery and possession of a knife.
Serious injuries
Prosecutor Paul Fairley told the court that Mr Evans was with two friends in Ken’s Chicken Shop where he saw Darame, who was 23 at the time, at around 3am on May 12 2023.
Mr Evans then crossed the road with friend Oliver Geen, before they became aware of Darame behind them.
Mr Fairley said: “This time he had the large knife described as a Rambo knife. I imagine some sort of hunting-type knife.”
The pair ran off before Mr Evans heard Darame shouting “I’m going to catch you, and when I catch you, I’m going to kill you”, the prosecutor said.
“He ended up on the ground, where he was stabbed in the leg with a large knife, and at the same time a necklace around his neck and another chain he was wearing around his wrist, were snatched by the defendant, who then ran off.
“The victim had quite serious injuries – a large degree of blood loss at the scene where it happened, [and the] severing of two major nerves.
“Luckily, as far as everyone in the case was concerned, the knife missed by a few millimetres the major blood vessels in his leg.”
In a victim impact statement, Mr Evans said he had been left with paralysis in his leg from the knee down, leaving him unable to walk without a splint on his foot.
The injury, along with the pain from the nerve damage, has left him unable to continue working as an apprentice electrician.
The previously active Mr Evans, who is now 20, had played tennis to a high level from a young age but was now unable to play sport like he used to, the court heard.
Victim ‘in prime of youth’
Daniel Reilly, defending, told the court that Darame had a youth contract with Swansea City before being given a two-year professional deal at the age of 18.
However, when the contract ended, he “struggled to cope” and began to mix with drug dealers, the court heard.
Mr Reilly said: “There was a feeling on Mr Darame’s part that he needed to be a provider, he felt that he was failing in what he saw as part of his role within the family and that’s where he struggled to cope.
“And that’s where drugs came to feature, and with that the introduction to other individuals who themselves were involved in activities that had never been any part of Mr Darame’s previous lifestyle.”
Judge Daniel Neill said Darame’s actions had changed the life of a man “in the prime of his youth”, as he sentenced him to four years and four months for the robbery, and three months for the knife possession, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The judge added: “You had hoped to become a professional footballer, it didn’t work out. Many dreams don’t work out, many ambitions.”
