Knifeman who cut his own ear before threatening to stab two female PCSOs is jailed
A man who threatened to kill two female Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) after cutting his own ear has been jailed for two years.
Grant Stevens, 37, from Bristol, said to the women officers: “Stand back, I’m going to stab you, I’m going to kill you” while armed with a knife outside Gloucester railway station.
Mr Stevens pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court to threatening to kill PCSOs Suzanne Sexton and Rachael Addinall and to possession of a knife.
The two PCSOs were at the station looking for a missing person when they saw the defendant in some bushes by the car park, the court heard.
They went over to check if he was the person they were looking for when he jumped out of the bushes, waving a knife and a stick, and strode towards them aggressively.
The trial heard that Stevens yelled out: “Stand back, I’m going to stab you, I’m going to kill you.”
Prosecuting barrister Janine Wood said: “The two officers were terrified for their lives and the defendant shouted that he was serious and he again said that he was going to kill them.”
The PCSOs pressed their panic buttons and returned to their marked police car.
Other police arrived at the scene and tasered the defendant, who fell to the floor and was arrested, the court heard.
In a victim impact statement, officer Sexton said: “I was very scared as I was faced with a man with a knife.
“He had cut his own ear with the knife and after he was arrested I tried to treat the wound, which was bleeding a lot.
“I feared for my life and we had retreated to our vehicle because we did not want to die."
Stevens had five previous convictions, including two for assault and one for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
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Defence lawyer Kate Chidgey said: “His responsibility was greatly reduced by his bi-polar mental disorder.
“He had stopped taking his medication but he now realises that he will have to take it for life. When he takes it he is a completely different man.
“He is now stable and is disgusted by what he did.”
Earlier, the court heard that Stevens admitted he did not like the police and had a problem with people in uniform ever since an incident some time ago.
Judge Michael Cullum told him: “The two unarmed female officers were very distressed at your agitated behaviour and seriously thought that you were going to hurt them.
“You were clearly in a state of personal mental health crisis at the time and had stopped taking your medication.”
