One of Scotland’s most dangerous offenders stabbed two guards at a high-security prison.
Darren Cornelius was just 11 when he abducted a nine-year-old girl in Edinburgh and stabbed her repeatedly, narrowly missing an artery in her throat.
The 32-year-old brute was detained in a secure unit for that attack and later was handed an order for lifelong restriction for stabbing a man.
Cornelius appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court today and admitted stabbing guards Andrew Phillips and Derek McKay at HMP Shotts in Lanarkshire on September 13 last year.
In 2020 we told how Cornleius’s Edinburgh victim, Kitrina McKenzie was still haunted by the frenzied attack. At the time she hoped intensive therapy would help her cope with the trauma she suffered.
On October 23, 2000, when Kitrina was a young schoolgirl, she was abducted at knifepoint from outside her grandmother’s home in Edinburgh by Cornelius, who also lived on her street.
He forced her on to a bus and took her to an underground carpark at the city’s Fountain Park leisure complex, where he knifed her eight times, including in the neck and stomach.
Kitrina only survived because of the intervention of Sarah Hardie, now in her 40s, who found her when she staggered towards a bus stop and collapsed.
He was not prosecuted for attempted murder relating to Kitrina, as his defence argued he had a mental age below eight, then the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland.
Describing the latest attack in court yesterday, Alice Carey, prosecuting, said four officers went to his cell with his evening meal but Cornelius became aggressive. She stated: “It appears he had some issues regarding his meal and expressed his feelings.
“He produced a small bladed item from his pocket. The guards drew their batons but Cornelius lunged forward and stabbed officer Phillips to the left side of the rib cage.
“Prison officers delivered a number of baton strikes in order to subdue him but he managed to strike officer McKay on the hand before being restrained." Both guards required hospital treatment for minor wounds.
Cornelius is currently serving a 10-year sentence for stabbing another prisoner. Defence agent Ross Jenkins told the court: “He has a parole hearing in June next year but it’s unlikely he will be released then.
“It’s rather harrowing - since the age of 16 he has spent only a few months at liberty, such has been his past.”
Sheriff Andrew McIntyre deferred sentence until next month for background reports. He told Cornelius: “This is exceptionally serious as is your record for violence.”
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