A pub chef who stabbed a woman on a night out was identified to police by his own mum – after his dad recognised him in a CCTV image on KentOnline.

James Nangle was forced to hand himself in after the damning picture was circulated by detectives in April last year following the attack in Canterbury four months earlier.

A media appeal had been launched after student Isabelle Hall suffered wounds to the upper right side of her body and to her right breast.

Nangle’s mum, who lives in Northern Ireland, was alerted to an article on this website by his father, from whom she is divorced.

A jury heard that having informed police, she then phoned her son to say she had told officers he would contact them.

Nangle voluntarily went to a police station the next day and denied being involved in any assault.

But the 29-year-old now faces jail having been convicted by a jury on Wednesday of unlawful wounding.

Canterbury Crown Court heard he stabbed Ms Hall with a sharp implement as she was being punched and having her hair pulled by Elle McAllister outside Cousins Pool and Snooker Lounge in the early hours of December 8, 2021.

The prosecution said that having “slyly and spitefully” wounded the student, he then acted as if he was “nothing more than a friendly peacekeeper”.

But giving evidence at his trial this week, Nangle maintained he had nothing in his right hand when he gave Ms Hall what he described as “a dig” with his fist in her ribs to break the two women up, and had not caused her any injury.

Recalling the moment he realised police wanted to trace him, he said he was “terrified, scared, and very confused”.

Nangle, of Worthgate Place, Canterbury, said shortly before the phone call from his mum on April 7 last year, a colleague at the Bishop’s Finger pub, where he worked, had shown him a screenshot of the media appeal.

He told the court: “I didn’t have a clue what was going on. I didn’t really make a decision there and then what I should do but then almost immediately afterwards I received a phone call from my mother.

“She lives in Northern Ireland. She told me that my father had seen the online article and contacted her. My parents are divorced.

“My mum had then immediately called Kent Police and identified me and then she called me to say she had told them I would respond as soon as possible.”

Nangle, a former University of Kent English literature, theatre studies and drama student, reported to Canterbury police station the following morning and gave a prepared statement denying he had caused any injuries to Ms Hall.

But outlining the case against Nangle at trial, prosecutor Kieran Brand said it was fortunate the victim had not suffered more serious injuries from the “sneaky and callous” stabs which she had later described as “harsh punches”.

“Whilst at first blush it appeared that he was playing peacekeeper, the Crown say he himself slyly and spitefully assaulted Isabelle himself,” said Mr Brand.

“It is unclear what he’s holding but the shape of his hand and his movements suggest there was something in it...”

“And they weren’t punches. They were blows using some sort of sharp implement. In short, this defendant stabbed her.”

Having played CCTV of the attack on Ms Hall initially by McAllister and then by Nangle, Mr Brand said while the first blow may have not been visible, the second was “as clear as day” and he could be seen holding an implement in his right hand.

“It is unclear what he’s holding but the shape of his hand and his movements suggest there was something in it,” added the prosecutor, who also described a “flicker” being picked up by the camera before any blows were struck.

The court heard the first blow was a stabbing motion to the right side of Ms Hall’s chest.

“It is a short, quick movement and it doesn’t appear that anyone noticed where it had come from,” Mr Brand continued.

“Indeed, as the attack from McAllister was stopped, this defendant gave the impression that he was nothing more than a friendly peacekeeper.”

The court heard Ms Hall did not see where the two blows came from but was winded by their impact.

It was not until a few hours later however that she realised she had been stabbed.

Ms Hall had been socialising with friends in the city centre and was having a cigarette outside Cousins in the early hours when Nangle together with McAllister - who was assistant manager at the Bishop’s Finger - and another woman walked past.

None of them knew each other but a joke was shared between Ms Hall and Nangle.

At that point, McAllister stopped, turned around and walked back towards Ms Hall, shouting “what’s your ******* issue?”, the jury heard.

Ms Hall replied there was no issue and that she was just agreeing with what Nangle had said. McAllister, however, became more aggressive and moved closer.

Mr Brand said Ms Hall and her friends remained calm and friendly as attempts were made to placate her, but she responded by asking if Ms Hall “wanted a ******* fight”.

He added that as Ms Hall reacted by telling McAllister to “**** off with her friends”, she was suddenly punched to her left cheekbone, grabbed by the hair and pulled downwards.

CCTV captured the tussle in which Ms Hall pleaded with McAllister to stop while trying to grab her hands and thrash around to make her let go.

Her friends also tried to help and it was at this point that Nangle became “physically engaged” and struck out, added the prosecutor.

“My bag had fallen off my arm and I dug Isabelle in the ribs with my fist to get her away from Elleanor...”

Once the two groups parted, Ms Hall and her pals returned inside Cousins. She spotted some blood on her top in the area of her right breast but thought nothing of it.

It was only when she got home a few hours later that she saw her wounds - a circular puncture to her right-hand side near her ribcage that was still bleeding and a larger cut to her right breast. She was taken by ambulance to Ashford’s William Harvey Hospital.

Giving evidence to the court, Nangle described himself as being “slightly tipsy at the most” after spending the evening with McAllister and the unnamed woman.

He said his exchange with Ms Hall was “very light-hearted and jovial” and he had waved as he walked away.

Nangle, who was carrying a bag containing his chef whites, trousers and a pair of trainers, said he then realised McAllister was not with him and turned round to see what he thought was his colleague and Ms Hall having a “friendly hug” before realising they were “tussling.”

He told the jury he assumed in his “arrogance and bias” that Ms Hall rather than his friend was the aggressor.

“I tried to pull Elleanor away but got tussled backwards because I’m a short, slight guy and they are considerably bigger than me,” said Nangle.

“My bag had fallen off my arm and I dug Isabelle in the ribs with my fist to get her away from Elleanor.”

Nangle maintained he had no weapon in his hand and struck just once.

He added he apologised to Ms Hall when he realised McAllister was to blame for the violence.

During cross-examination, Nangle told the court he had house keys and a pub key in his pocket. But he denied the CCTV showed him holding a key, or any kind of sharp object, “ready to use.”

McAllister, of St Peter’s Place, Canterbury, had been due to stand trial accused of assault causing actual bodily harm to Ms Hall but her guilty plea to the less serious offence of assault by beating was accepted by the prosecution before the jury was sworn.

Both Nangle and McAllister were released on bail until their sentencing hearing on September 28, which will be held at Maidstone Crown Court.