A man who repeatedly stabbed a stranger in a wheelchair while shouting "have it, have it" has been jailed for nine years. Glyn Holland, 41, of Meadfoot Road in Moreton, carried out the attack on June 25 in Woodchurch, Wirral, as children played just metres away.
The victim, a 62-year-old grandfather who suffered a stroke four years ago and uses an electric wheelchair, was chatting about football with friends on a grass verge near a Co-op store on Hoole Road at around 3.30pm when Holland approached him. The defendant then began repeatedly stabbing him to the left side of his body while shouting "Have it. Have it."
Unprovoked attack in broad daylight
Holland walked away along Hoole Road while still holding the knife in his right hand. Police later found him on Glebelands Road in Moreton with blood on his hands and forehead, and he told officers he had "fallen over".
Bethany Leigh, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that the assault was completely unprovoked and that the complainant did not know the defendant. CCTV footage showed a young boy riding his bike nearby during the attack. The blood-stained weapon was recovered from bins near the Co-op shop.
Victim's family speak of 'shell of himself'
The victim was taken to Aintree Hospital with three stab wounds to his chest, which were deemed life threatening. Although the knife missed his lung and heart, he suffered injuries to his abdomen and a ruptured spleen, required surgery for internal bleeding, and was left in critical care.
His daughter said in a statement read to the court: "Our dad feels more vulnerable now. He doesn't like to be left alone. The impact this has had on the family has been huge. We weren't confident he would be well enough to pull it through." She added: "It's heartbreaking for his children and grandchildren to see the man we loved become a shell of himself."
Judge: 'Little short of miraculous'
Holland, who has 52 previous convictions for 68 offences including possession of a bladed article in 2018, admitted wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article in a public place. Appearing via video link from HMP Liverpool, he apologised, saying: "I'm sorry. I've got no recollection of doing it and I do apologise."
Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said: "In broad daylight, and completely unprovoked, you repeatedly stabbed at and into an elderly, highly vulnerable man who was a wheelchair user because of a previous serious stroke. On the facts of this case, it is little short of miraculous that you did not kill him." He added that the victim's limited life had been "further reduced, almost to nothing" by the attack. The judge said a life sentence was "not necessary or merited" but agreed with a pre-sentence report that Holland posed a high risk of reoffending and of causing harm.
