This is the moment a Southport-inspired knifeman cried as armed police arrested him for stabbing a nine-year-old girl.
Jordan Wilkes, 29, was convicted of the attack which happened in the stairwell of the flats where he lived with his mother in Glider Close, Christchurch, Dorset, on August 20 2024.
The victim and her friend had been playing on the stairs when Wilkes came out of his flat and approached the two youngsters while concealing a folding pocket knife.
He stabbed the victim in the neck, chest and knee. She was taken to hospital where she was treated for her wounds, the court heard that she would be left scarred for life.
Sentencing Wilkes to 30 years in custody with an extended five-year period on licence for attempted murder and possession of a knife, Judge William Mousley KC said directly to the defendant: “You are a dangerous offender, there is a significant risk of you causing serious harm to others in the future.”