SH0CK TWIST: Coronation Street Star Seriously 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 in Horrific @ttack as @ttacker Is Revealed.
John Savident was attacked in 2000 (Image: ITV)
John Savident famously starred on Coronation Street as the beloved Fred Elliot. Between 1994 and his onscreen death in 2006, the iconic actor played the cobbles’ local butcher. The character was loved among fans for his legendary catchphrase: “I say, I say,” his complicated love life, and his tragic storylines, which included his own death on the very day he was supposed to marry Bev Unwin (played by Susie Blake).
Years before his ITV departure, John hit the headlines after facing a horrific ordeal in which the late actor was stabbed in the neck. Back in 2000, the TV star was left losing two pints of blood after meeting an escort in a bar in Manchester. His attacker, Michael Smith, had convinced the then-62-year-old that he was a drama student before the terrifying ordeal. After a week-long trial, the violent 30-year-old was jailed for 20 years.
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John Savident was stabbed in the neck (Image: PA)
At the time, Manchester Crown Court heard how Michael convinced John he was a drama student during their first meeting at Napoleon’s bar, where the actor previously visited as part of an event for World Aids Day.
At the married star’s flat, John and Michael spoke until the early hours of the next day.
During the court trial, John revealed that he had gone to his bedroom at his flat to charge his phone, but was pushed and shoved face down onto his bed at knifepoint by Michael.
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He said: “I suddenly felt somebody come up behind me and whizz me round, so I was face down on the bed, and then I felt a prick on my throat. He said something like ‘I bet you have never met a schizo before’, which was really quite frightening.”
After the star called the emergency services, he begged them to keep the story out of the press, disclosing that he plays “Fred Elliott in Coronation Street”.
John Savident worked the bandage into his character’s storyline (Image: ITV)
At the trial, Judge Harold Singer said that John could have bled to death due to the knife hitting a major blood vessel.
After the attack, when John returned to filming at Coronation Street, he was seen during the episodes wearing a plaster on his neck, with his character blaming the injury on a “butchering accident.”
The attacker was arrested by police in Canal Street on the day of the attack, with his clothes soaked in John’s blood.
Michael was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and robbing the actor of his wallet, keys, credit cards, cash, a silver money clip and jewellery and an invitation to the soap’s 40th birthday party.
During the trial, he sacked his counsel and claimed the attack was in self-defence, alleging that John made sexual advances towards him.
However, the Corrie star denied this and said they had gone back to his flat so he could advise Michael on how to get into show business.
