Man jailed for frenzied knife attack on rugby player

A 21-year-old man has been handed a 22-and-a-half year extended sentence after repeatedly stabbing a stranger outside a Gorseinon social club in an unprovoked attack that left his teenage victim fighting for his life.

Earlier altercation

Kane Evans, then aged 20, was at the New Lodge social club in Gorseinon on the evening of June 21, along with 18-year-old Morgan Hopkins and his partner. The men were unknown to each other.

Swansea Crown Court heard that during the evening, Evans became involved in an altercation with men in a car parked outside the premises. Mr Hopkins, who had been sat outside with his partner vaping, intervened to try to defuse the situation and the incident came to an end. Both men separately returned to the busy club with no further interaction between them inside the venue.

The attack

At 1:10am the following morning, Mr Hopkins and his partner were sat outside on a bench waiting for a lift home when Evans walked up to the couple, lifted his top to reveal a kitchen knife in his waistband, and said “look at this knife, mush”.

The defendant then produced the knife and Mr Hopkins tried to defuse the situation by saying nobody needed to get hurt. Evans then launched a “frenzied” attack on the rugby player, repeatedly stabbing him to the left arm, chest and abdomen.

The victim managed to escape and made his way back into the club. Evans said to the teenager’s partner: “He’s f***ing lucky that’s all he got.” Evans briefly made his way back into the club before turning and walking off.

The injuries

Mr Hopkins was rushed to Morriston Hospital where doctors found a total of 10 stab wounds – six to his left arm which had sliced through his muscles, and one to his abdomen which had penetrated to a depth of 6cm and cut his intestines. Surgeons had to remove sections of his bowel during a 10-and-a-half hour operation.

In an impact statement read to the court, Mr Hopkins said the incident had totally changed his life and he didn’t know if he would ever be able to put it behind him. He spent seven days in hospital and said there had been times during his stay when he didn’t know if he was going to survive.

The victim said he had been unable to play rugby or go to the gym since the incident, and he had dreamed of being a professional rugby player and felt “lost” without the sport. He has been left suffering with flashbacks, struggling to sleep, and being reluctant to leave the house. He said: “This incident has changed who I am.”

The arrest

Police and paramedics were called to the scene and officers were given the name of the knifeman. A firearms unit was sent to Evans’s nearby house and he was noted to be “uncooperative” with officers on arrest and to be swearing at them.

When searched, the defendant was found to be carrying a Stanley-type knife. A search of his house revealed a blood-stained kitchen knife. Evans subsequently answered “no comment” to all questions asked in interview.

The sentencing

Evans, now aged 21, of Loughor Common, Gorseinon, had previously pleaded guilty to attempted murder and to possession of a bladed article when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

John Hipkin KC, for Evans, said the defendant was deeply remorseful for his actions. He said his client had been aged 20 at the time and “immature to say the least”. He said he knew the court would be concerned by the facts of the incident – an incident which “seems to have arisen out of nothing” – but said in his submissions a standard determinate sentence would be sufficient. The barrister said a psychiatric report before the court detailed the defendant’s alcohol dependence and social anxiety disorder.

Judge Paul Thomas KC said the complainant had been sat on a bench outside the club waiting for a lift home when Evans produced a knife – a knife he had taken with him to the venue – and used it to carry out a frenzied attack with the intention of committing murder.

He noted Evans had tried to start a fight with a group of males in a car earlier in the evening, saying he had obviously been “intent on causing great mischief” at the club. The judge said the fact that Evans had never been in trouble with the police before made what happened on the night all the more “shocking and inexplicable”.

Given the “sheer randomness” of the attack, its ferocity and persistence, and the fact that the defendant had taken the knife to the scene, the judge said he was satisfied that the 21-year-old poses a risk to the public and that an extended sentence was necessary.

With a 20 per cent discount for his guilty pleas, Evans was given a 22-and-a-half year extended sentence comprising 17-and-a-half years in custody followed by a five-year licence period. He must serve two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence in custody before he can apply to be released, but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be let out.

Nia Sturgess from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This was a sustained and brutal attack which caused terrible injuries. Kane Evans made a choice to bring the knife to the pub, and use it, and he now faces justice for his actions. The strong evidence presented by the Crown Prosecution Service resulted in guilty pleas. All too often, violence involving knives can have fatal consequences. Thankfully, that was not the case here, and we hope Mr Hopkins makes a full recovery.”