Manchester knifeman who stabbed five homeless men jailed for 18 years
Knifeman who caused Manchester city centre terror as he stabbed five homeless men in 10-minute knifing spree is jailed for 18 years
- Kieran McLoughlin, 32, slashed four men in the face, and another in the back
- Attacks were in full view of busy Metrolink stop during spree across Piccadilly Gardens and Market Street in 2020
- He was Tasered by police at Market Street tram stop when members of the public confronted him after his final stabbing
- McLoughlin given 18 years’ jail, and extra five-year period on licence when he is released
A knifeman who caused terror in Manchester city centre as he randomly stabbed five homeless people has been sentenced to 18 years in jail.
Kieran McLoughlin, 32, slashed four men to the face, and another to the back while in full view of a busy Metrolink stop during a 10-minute spree across Piccadilly Gardens and Market Street.
The senseless stabbings caused panic, with people fearing it could have been a terrorist attack.
McLoughlin had actually targeted vulnerable men who were begging on the streets.
Kieran McLoughlin (pictured), 32, slashed four men to the face, and another to the back while in full view of a busy Metrolink stop during a 10-minute spree across Piccadilly Gardens and Market Street in 2020. He has now been sentenced to 18 years in jail
He was Tasered by police at Market Street tram stop when members of the public confronted him after his final stabbing.
After being arrested, McLoughlin claimed to not have issues with homeless people, but said they ‘should be getting off their a**e to do work’.
A judge described the attacks as a ‘short but vicious campaign of cruel, cold, calculated, and targeted violence’.
McLoughlin, who refused to attend his sentencing hearing, was yesterday sentenced to 18 years in jail, and given an extra five-year period on licence when he is released.
All five victims were on the streets at about 6pm on Sunday, January 12, 2020.
Tommy Dennison (above) was one of the five homeless men attacked. McLoughlin leant down and pretended to give him some money before slashing him in the face
Manchester Crown Court heard the first attack happened on Parker Street near Piccadilly bus station, as he attacked a man who was standing begging.
McLoughlin slashed him to the face, causing a 15cm wound.
He then calmly walked towards Greggs on Market Street, where two homeless men were sitting.
Blood poured from one of their faces after McLoughlin slashed one of them.
McLoughlin then moved towards Primark, where another man called Tommy Dennison was sitting.
Before stabbing him, McLoughlin snatched a cup which another homeless man had been using to collect money, and said ‘payback’s a b***h’.
As he leant down and pretended to give Mr Dennison some money, McLoughlin also slashed him to the face.
After his ordeal, Mr Dennison, then 52, told the Manchester Evening News that he needed 18 stitches.
McLoughlin then slashed another homeless man to the face as he was leaning against a bin near Debenhams.
After his fourth knife attack, McLoughlin walked onto the Market Street tram stop, and sat down on a bench for a few seconds.
In full view of the busy tram stop, McLoughlin jumped down and stabbed a fifth homeless man, this time to the back. He then climbed back onto the stop, and got on a tram.
But a group of young men crowded around him, and a member of the public filmed him.
Police stopped the tram from leaving and, moments later, plain clothes officers took McLoughlin to the ground and Tasered him.
Police at the scene in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester. McLoughlin said he had been ‘chilling’ with friends and smoking cannabis prior to the stabbings, but claimed he was ‘sober as a judge’
Prosecuting, Andy Evans said: ‘This incident took place at a time of heightened fear and security following a terrorist atrocity in the city two years earlier.
‘The victims were highly vulnerable, homeless men begging, all attacked without warning, the majority whilst looking in the other direction. There was clear targeting of homeless men.
‘The wounds caused were shocking, and were caused in full view of the hundreds of people, including children, present at the scene.’
After being arrested, McLoughlin said it was a case of mistaken identity and claimed he didn’t have any issues with homeless people.
‘It’s not about the homeless, I don’t like Spice, I don’t like anything like that,’ he said.
‘I don’t like any drugs, people that takes drugs or people that’s off on s**t around me.’
He said homeless people ‘should be getting off their a**e to do work’.
McLoughlin said he had been ‘chilling’ with friends and smoking cannabis prior to the stabbings, but claimed he was ‘sober as a judge’.
A jury saw through his lies, and found him of guilty of five counts of wounding with intent following a trial nearly a year ago.
Sentencing, Judge Timothy Smith said: ‘Kieran McLoughlin embarked on what was a short but vicious campaign of cruel, cold, calculated, and targeted violence against these five vulnerable men – a campaign that was as motiveless and mindless as it was malicious and malignant.
‘There was clearly some wider impact on the public, who were justifiably concerned for their own safety in what was reported as random knife attacks, all happening at a time of heightened fears for terrorist attacks.’
McLoughlin, who has 115 previous offences in Ireland, and a further 25 in the UK, has shown no remorse for his crimes, the judge added.
Defending, Paul Treble said McLoughlin was living a chaotic lifestyle, and had mental health problems.
But the judge said they played no part in his offending, and were not serious enough to warrant him being detained in hospital rather than prison.
McLoughlin will have to serve two-thirds of the 18-year sentence before the Parole Board decide whether it is safe to release him.
Source: Read Full Article