Maniac who shot police officer with crossbow is jailed

Maniac who shot police officer with crossbow is jailed
Source: Daily Mail Online

A 'grinning' man who stabbed his neighbour before he shooting a police officer with a crossbow has been jailed for nine years.

On Wednesday, a sentencing hearing at Aylesbury Crown Court heard Jason King had stabbed Alistair Mahwuto with a 'small knife' during an altercation which had arisen as a result of a 'long-standing' dispute with his neighbours.

Police were called to the scene on School Close, High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, where King shot at officers with a crossbow out of his upstairs window before chasing them with the weapon and shooting an officer, the court was told.

The 55-year-old was later shot once by police in the stomach after refusing to put down the weapon when confronted by officers, the court heard.

King previously pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, having an article with a blade or point, having an offensive weapon, wounding with intent and affray regarding the incident on May 10 last year.

Prosecutor Graham Smith said: 'The defendant then re-appeared in an upstairs window, he was still armed with a crossbow and he then began to fire bolts at the officers out of the window.'
He added: '(An officer) looked around, he saw the defendant was now exiting the address, he noticed he was now crouching down as he ran and the defendant was grinning.'

King then shot the officer, who cannot be named, in the leg with the crossbow, resulting in a two to three-centimetre wound near to an artery, the court heard.

The 55-year-old was seen on CCTV stalking officers with the weapon and 'grinning' before he launched the attack.

A body-worn police video was shown to court during which a male officer can be heard saying 'he f shot me'.

King 'persisted' in pointing the crossbow at other officers who confronted him and, given that he had already shot an officer, police decided to shoot him, the prosecutor said.

Mr Smith said it was the prosecution's case that it was 'great fortune' the officer who was shot had not suffered greater injuries and that King had appeared to be 'hunting' and 'stalking' the police.

In a statement read to court, Mr Mahwuto, 63, who suffered a two-centimetre wound as a result of the stabbing, said the incident had 'affected me more than I would have ever imagined' and that he was now debating moving away from the area where he had lived for 30 years.

Of his injury, he added: 'The doctor said to me that if it had been a few centimetres higher, it could have been fatal'.

The officer shot by King said the incident had 'changed my outlook on life a bit', and that he feels more 'protective' about his colleagues now.

In a statement read by Mr Smith, the officer said: 'I don't want anyone else to experience what I experienced, I hear jobs coming through on the radio and I don't want my colleagues going out to them.'

He added that he had 'knocked' his confidence, and a doctor had told him the injury could have been 'catastrophic'.

King was seen on CCTV threatening his neighbour before later stabbing him with a knife.

In mitigation, Mark Kimsey, defending, said King accepted the incident was 'very frightening' for those involved, and that he had been suffering from a 'worsening mental condition'.

Mr Kimsey added: 'It appeared at the time the defendant believed he was able to speak to the neighbour's dog, and speak in dog', adding that King thought he had contact with an 'Egyptian god.'

During the altercation with his neighbour, King was shouting 'come on Rocco', referring to the man's dog, and later 'Kill Rocco, Kill'.

King, of School Close, High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, waved and made a heart gesture with his hands towards members of his family who were seated in the public gallery.

The defendant, wearing a green long-sleeved top and a wooden beaded necklace, shook his head and raised his hand at points during the hearing.