A holidaymaker was forced to launch himself through a caravan window to escape a knife-wielding cousin at Marine Holiday Park in Rhyl. Steven Harrison, 46, pleaded guilty to affray and criminal damage at Mold Crown Court and was handed a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work.
Attack at Rhyl caravan park
Prosecuting barrister Karl Scholz told the court that the defendant's relationship had collapsed in March this year. In the week before the incident, victim Lee Harrison was contacted by a woman who said Steven Harrison had messaged her expressing suicidal thoughts.
The pair travelled to the Heartlands Crisis Centre in Birmingham for an assessment. Afterwards, Steven Harrison wanted to get away for a while, and they went to Marine Holiday Park in Rhyl on May 21.
Threat with knife
The defendant wandered off alone before returning with an unidentified man. He disappeared again and was behaving "somewhat erratically" on his return. Both men retired to their beds, but twenty minutes later Lee was awoken by the defendant screaming from his bedroom.
Steven Harrison was extremely angry and incoherent, repeatedly demanding water and banging his head against the wall. He pursued Lee into the kitchen, hurled objects, and launched an air fryer and a table at Lee's chest and arms. He then asked: "Which one is the biggest knife?" and withdrew a large kitchen knife.
Wielding it, he told Lee: "This is the worst night of your life." He stabbed the dining room table with the knife before being sick. He had secured the caravan door, so Lee "launched himself" through a window. A woman in an adjacent caravan, disturbed by the commotion, assisted him, and police were summoned.
Sentence and compensation
Steven Harrison told officers he wanted to be Tasered. After his release, he left an abusive message on a doorbell camera for Lee. Repairs to the caravan walls cost £198, and replacing the broken glass cost £106.18.
Defending, Sarah Yates said the defendant had recently separated from his partner and had experienced a sharp deterioration in mental health, leading to suicide attempts. He has "little recollection" of the evening and is genuinely remorseful. He works as a mechanic earning £3,400 a month.
Judge Mr Recorder David Elias KC said the incident "must have been terrifying" for Lee and that mental health "played a part" in the offending. Steven Harrison, of Park Hall Avenue, Weston Coyney, Stoke-on-Trent, must engage with probation services, complete unpaid work, and pay £150 in costs and £304.18 in compensation to the caravan owner.
