A knife-wielding convicted sex offender slashed a boy’s throat on a city region bus.
The CCTV image was taken as part of a series of CCTV clips from the vehicle that captured the attack on a Palacefields to Brookvale service in Runcorn on May 8 last year. Chester Crown Court heard on Friday how Hamid Akhonzada, 26, of Liskeard Close, Brookvale, launched the “unprovoked” attack after claiming to have heard voices telling him to stab someone during the journey - but that he also told a probation officer he left his home that day wanting to “stab” someone.
Dafydd Roberts, prosecuting, said Akhonzada sat on the row of seats behind his 17-year-old victim, grabbed the youth by the hair, “held his head back and drew a bladed article described as a steak knife across the throat”. The youth tried to fight back and evade the assault as other passengers reeled in shock.
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When the struggle moved to the baggage hold, Akhonzada punched the boy several times. The bus stopped and the knifeman fled the scene.
Officers from Cheshire Police arrived to find the youth pressing a covid facemask to his bleeding neck.
His wounds were described as both “scratches” and “cuts” during the hearing, and were later closed with glue and stitches in hospital.
The youth’s girlfriend, 16, was also injured slightly during the attack as she tried to help him. Officers managed to find the knife, which had been snapped.
Dafydd Roberts, prosecuting, said Akhonzada was arrested in Croydon, London on May 14, and within days of entering custody had succumbed to what Judge Michael Leeming described as a “compulsion” for violence by beating a HMP Altcourse prison officer unconscious.
The court heard Akhonzada had been moved north to Runcorn from Croydon with no continuity of care despite suffering a “major psychotic disorder”, namely schizophrenia, and having been convicted 10 times for 23 offences including violence and one count of sexual assault in the past.
Officials moved him to Halton after the Home Office failed to deport him to his Afghanistan homeland, which he fled as a refugee aged 16 following a series of traumas including his father being murdered, witnessing someone being killed, and his brother’s death in custody following his arrest by a “corrupt police chief” leading to Akhonzada being arrested on "trumped up terrorism charges” and demands for him to marry the rogue cop’s physically and mentally impaired daughter.
Following his arrest in Croydon, where he had lived prior to being moved to Runcorn, and having been deemed fit to plead, Akhonzada pleaded guilty to Section 18 wounding with intent, having a bladed article in public and assaulting an emergency worker.
Kevin Slack, defending, recounted details of Akhonzada’s “major psychotic disorder” and harrowing background, and added Akhonzada’s problems had not been “picked up” by health services when he arrived in Runcorn, and nor was he recommended for medication when he last left prison for a previous offence, which Mr Slack branded a “mistake” that won’t be “made again”.
Judge Leeming acknowledged the knifeman’s serious mental illness - his sense of feeling “special” and “close to God” - as well as his “traumatic childhood”, but said Akhonzada had left his home address with an intent to “stab” someone and had tried to “self-medicate” with spice and cannabis instead of seeking proper medical support.
The judge jailed him for four years plus four years on extended licence for dangerousness.
Judge Leeming said: “Your record for violence and sexual assault is a statutory aggravating factor. There’s an established pattern here of violent and aggressive behaviour.
“The timing and location in the attacks are both relevant, in the first instance on public transport in the presence of other members of the public.
“The footage clearly shows how shocked the other passengers were on the bus, and it took place in a confined space at the back of the bus.”
Recalling the assault on the prison officer he said: “He was unconscious for about two minutes.
“It’s important that you should understand that Michael Bennett was simply doing his job, an already difficult job made more difficult by your behaviour.
“He was simply responding to your call to make sure your needs were attended to. He sustained bumps and bruises to his face and cuts to the inside of his mouth.”
Akhonzada, who was assisted by a Farsi interpreter for the hearing, must also pay a statutory surcharge.
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