These shocking photos show the horrific injuries suffered by a stabbing victim left 'looking like Frankenstein' after he briefly died following a frenzied knife attack.
Taylor Wells, 23 was stabbed through the heart and briefly died after Leon Dowbenko, 20, picked up a knife from the kitchen and launched into a “vicious” assault while staying the night at a friend's home.
Mr Wells, an aspiring actor, needed a life-saving operation in the back of an ambulance.
Another victim, Jake Oldfield, 20, was slashed across the face during the incident, while a third, Olivia Pentelow, 21, escaped uninjured after her thick dressing stopped the knife piercing her skin.
Dowbenko then turned the knife on himself before jumping out a window, the court heard.
Dowbenko, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was convicted by a jury in August last year on two charges of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
He was today sentenced to a hospital order while appearing on a video link to Newton Lodge, a medium secure hospital, where he is being treated.
The court earlier heard how the attack took place at Mr Oldfield and Miss Pentelow’s shared flat in Queensbury, Bradford, on July 21, 2020.
The four young people had been socialising together prior to the assault, but events soon turned dark when Dowbenko launched into the unprovoked attack.
After he was stabbed in the kitchen, Mr Wells escaped through a skylight and then fell down from a roof, before emergency services rushed him to hospital
In a victim person statement, he said the stabbing had “completely messed my life up".
He told the court he had been living independently but had moved back home and had to set up a GoFundMe page to appeal for financial help as he was unable to work.
He said he was an aspiring model and actor, but the scars on his chest had made him look like “Frankenstein”,
He said: “People say I’m lucky, but I don’t feel lucky. He knew what he was doing so why did he do that to me and my friends?”
Taylor said he now struggled to sleep, and his chest feels tight in the cold weather. He also said he suffered from depression, and possible PTSD.
He told the court: “I’m constantly on edge expecting the worst to happen.”
Taylor also said he had cut short a holiday with friends because he was physically unable to join in with all the activities and felt he was holding the group back.
Mr Oldfield told the court that he and his girlfriend, Ms Pentelow, had lost their home as they felt unable to stay in the flat after the attack.
He had to rely on his family to assist with housing. His sleep was also disrupted and he had nightmares and flashbacks.
He told the court: “Just thinking about it makes my heart race.”
He added that his face was scarred, he had lost a tooth and he had nerve damage. He also said he found it hard to trust people after the violent and unprovoked attack.
Miss Pentelow told of her anguish at having to clean up her boyfriend and friend’s blood in the flat.
She said she was now very aware of her surroundings and barely saw anyone except the other victims – and suffered from sleeping and ongoing trust issues.
Simon Hustler said in mitigation that Dowbenko wanted to say sorry to his “old friends.”
He added that the defendant didn’t ask for forgiveness, and he was still trying to understand what happened that day.
Judge Rose said Dowbenko was clearly mentally unwell when carried out the “horrific” attack after staying the night with Mr Oldfield and Miss Pentelow.
He said they were “entirely innocent victims of vicious and unwarranted violence.”
Judge Rose said Dowbenko was not insane, but he was mentally ill, and his use of cannabis had contributed to his psychosis.
He added the court was not only concerned with retribution and punishment but the safety and wellbeing of the public when he was released.
A prison would not be able to provide the high level of treatment to prevent another episode of serious violence in the future, he said.
Instead, the hospital would treat him proactively for his acute and transient psychotic disorder
Judge Rose said: “Treatment rather than punishment” was the safest option, before making the hospital order with a restriction and without limitation of time.
