A man with a disturbing interest in child murders, including the Southport attacks, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for stabbing a nine-year-old girl as she played outside his home in Christchurch, Dorset.
Jordan Wilkes, 29, attacked the girl in the stairwell of the flats where he lived with his mother, leaving her permanently scarred. The court heard that Wilkes came out of his flat with a pocketknife and stabbed the girl in the neck, chest and knee. He also tore a clump of her hair, which he kept as a 'trophy' until his mother told him to dispose of it.
The victim and another girl ran away and banged on doors until a family took them in and called emergency services. The wound to the girl's neck narrowly missed major arteries that could have caused fatal blood loss. She will be scarred for life.
A search of Wilkes' home revealed several hidden knives. Analysis of his mobile phone found 69 files of YouTube videos, news articles and podcasts focused on murders and child killings, including the 2018 Parkland school shooting and the aftermath of the Southport killings in July 2024. On the day of the attack, he had looked up the case of Aiden Fucci, who stabbed a 13-year-old girl in Florida.
Wilkes had a previous conviction for a 'brutal' assault on an eight-year-old boy in 2016 and was suspected of setting a pram on fire in 2020. Sentencing him for attempted murder and possession of a knife, Judge Mousley said: 'You are a dangerous offender. You had an interest in child-killing and you decided to try it out for yourself.'
