Portsmouth schizophrenic who turned up at old foe's doorstep and slashed rival with kitchen knife is jailed

James Stokes, 35, flew into a rage after spotting his old nemesis in a park on April 12 before tracking him down to his house and lashing out with the knife in the ‘premeditated’ attack.

Despite not seeing each other for more than a decade, troubled Stokes, who had not taken his anti-psychotic medication, decided to exact revenge on the man over previous clashes in their past.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how Stokes, of St Mary’s Road, Kingston, stormed round to the victim’s address at 10pm where his rival’s wife and children were.

A ‘bizarre exchange’ then took place after he told his adversary: ‘You are still in my head.’

As the door was being shut in Stokes face, the defendant then pulled out a knife.

Judge Timothy Mousley QC said: ‘You (Stokes) lunged at him and had in your hand a knife and injured him with a shallow cut. It was more consistent of a slash than a stab.

‘You then left the scene. You had used a kitchen knife and caused injury to the right side of his abdomen.

‘You had been under the influence of alcohol and amphetamines and were on something of a binge. You had not taken your anti-psychotic medication.

‘You deliberately armed yourself with a knife for the purpose of stabbing or slashing him. The injury could have been much more serious.’

The victim was left with cut marks up to 3cm.

Stokes was then arrested by police and made full admissions.

While in custody, Stokes told officers: ‘Ghosts can affect your head.’

Edward Hollingsworth, defending, said it was ‘very difficult to understand what happened’ but told the court ADHD sufferer Stokes was in a ‘state of confusement’ while intoxicated.

A psychiatric report revealed how Stokes' combination of schizophrenia and ADHD made it ‘difficult’ for the defendant to ‘arrive at appropriate decisions’.

It was not known why Stokes had not taken his medication with Mr Hollingsworth pointing out the offence was carried out due to his ‘state of mind’.

The barrister added: ‘Mr Stokes says he is very sorry and extremely relieved he did not cause a more serious injury.’

But judge Mousley raised concerns over the ‘significant element of premeditation’ and felt unable to impose anything other than immediate jail.

He jailed Stokes for 20 weeks and issued a two-year restraining order amid fears from the family. They had ‘taken precautions’ such as a spyhole in their door after being ‘very worried’ about the defendant turning up at their house again.

SEE ALSO: Police officer loses appeal

Stokes admitted assault by beating and possessing a knife.

The judge demanded an explanation from reviewing lawyers of the case why a more serious charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm was not made in the case with the less serious charge ‘affecting the length of the sentence’.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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