A Latvian national living in Bournemouth has been handed a significant prison sentence for a brutal and unprovoked knife attack on a complete stranger.
A vicious attack on Richmond Hill
Maksims Pilko, aged 22, was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court to eight years and one month in prison, with an extended licence period of four years. The court heard how Pilko launched a vicious assault on a couple walking towards Bournemouth Railway Station on the evening of February 24 last year.
The incident began when Pilko became involved in a verbal altercation with a woman in her 30s on Richmond Hill. He then spat in her face and punched her, causing her to fall to the ground. When the woman's partner, a man also in his 30s, intervened to defend her, Pilko's response was one of extreme violence.
Repeated stabbing leaves victim in induced coma
The defendant produced a knife and stabbed the Good Samaritan nine times in the torso. The attack was so severe that the victim required immediate hospitalisation and was placed into an induced coma due to the life-threatening nature of his injuries.
Police officers who attended the scene swiftly located Pilko nearby. A silver flick knife was found close to him. During the altercation, Pilko also sustained a single stab wound to his own thigh.
A dangerous offender with a history of violence
The court was told that Pilko's actions were even more alarming given his recent history. At the time of the attack, he was already serving a two-year community order for threatening a kebab shop worker in Bournemouth with a knife in October 2023.
Furthermore, he was on police bail after being found in possession of a blade and cannabis in June 2023. In mitigation, his defence counsel, Nick Turner, cited a difficult childhood and expressed Pilko's remorse. However, Judge Rufus Taylor described the defendant as 'plainly dangerous'.
Detective Constable Lizzie Christie of BCP CID emphasised the potential fatal consequences of Pilko's actions. She praised the swift response of officers and the thorough investigation that ensured he was brought to justice for his 'dangerous offending'.
