Knifeman jailed for 27 months after hostel rampage

A terrified hostel resident barricaded himself in his room with a chair as a knife-wielding attacker tried to force his way inside during a frenzied 30-minute ordeal.

Kieran Everard, 28, has been jailed for 27 months after the shocking incident at a supported housing complex in Saltney Ferry left his victim Jay Whiteford in absolute terror.

Mold Crown Court heard how events unfolded on January 11 this year when Mr Whiteford was lying in bed and heard Everard shouting. Concerned, he went to check on him and found the defendant “agitated” and “dancing”.

Prosecutor Tom McLoughlin told the court that Everard suddenly turned violent, attacking Mr Whiteford. The pair ended up rolling on the floor before Everard sank his teeth into Mr Whiteford’s arm, causing him to “cry out” from the “very intense pain”.

Fearing for his safety, Mr Whiteford fled back to his room and desperately tried to shut the door. But Everard wasn’t finished – he grabbed a knife from a sink in the complex and attempted to break into Mr Whiteford’s room.

The terrified victim wedged a chair behind his door to keep the armed man out as the nightmare continued for more than half an hour. Police arrived to find Everard “appeared to be intoxicated”.

In a victim statement, Mr Whiteford said: “I had been terrified that this man was coming at me with a knife.”

The court also heard about an earlier incident at the Glanrafon emergency bed centre in Queensferry on December 11 last year. Everard had approached fellow resident Clayton Griffiths at his cabin asking for a cigarette around 10pm.

When Mr Griffiths told him he wasn’t welcome, Everard started “jumping” before threatening: “I’ll smash your head in.”

Staff stepped in and Everard appeared to leave – but Mr Griffiths spotted him through a window, still on the premises, shouting: “F*** you all, I’ll go and hang myself in the cabin.” Police were called after reports of a man acting threateningly with some sort of metal object.

Defence barrister Joseph Lees told the court his client had been polite and kind in their dealings, describing him as “verging on being a Jekyll and Hyde character”. He explained that Everard had suffered adverse childhood experiences and has suspected schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. Everard admits he “loses his head” at times.

Passing sentence on Friday, District Judge Gwyn Jones described how at Glanrafon, Everard had been “dancing on the floor aggressively and very animated” and “unable to regulate his emotions”.

The judge said: “There are a number of honourable, homeless people who like you have not had the best of upbringings living at Glanrafon. Having been homeless yourself you will no doubt understand that a roof over one’s head is something everybody would like. Not everybody is so lucky.”

However, he noted that Everard had made threats and brandished a weapon at the centre. Referring to the Saltney Ferry attack, Judge Jones added: “One can no doubt imagine the terror faced by the occupant of that room you were trying to get into with a knife.”

Everard received 20 months imprisonment for threatening a person with a weapon in a private place and four months consecutive for assault by biting. He was given three months for possession of a weapon in a private place and three months for using threatening behaviour – both to run concurrently with the other sentences.