A knifeman wielding an eight-inch blade attacked a man in York city centre – partly because he wanted the victim’s wedding shoes.
Benjamin Sheard, 25, was shoeless and muttering to himself when he confronted the man in Lawrence Street as the victim and his smartly dressed friends were on their way to a wedding.
Philip Morris, prosecuting at Sheard’s trial at York Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Monday), said the group of four friends were on their way to the wedding venue at about 11.20am on 27 July when Sheard walked past them and touched one of the two women on the shoulder.
He then grabbed the shirt of one of the two men in the group and, as the others tried to “de-escalate the situation”, pulled a large kitchen knife out of his pocket and started brandishing it.
Sheard, who reeked of alcohol, held the knife at shoulder height, pointing the blade downwards as he tangled with the named victim, whose friends believed he was about to be stabbed in broad daylight in a city-centre street packed with racegoers.
As the women screamed and sought sanctuary in a nearby cafe, an ex-military man who was driving by intervened.
Sheard threw the knife in a garden as the former soldier got out of his car and, without a care for his own safety, restrained him until police arrived.
As he did so, Sheard, who was described as “distressed and agitated”, tried to crawl back to the victim, apparently “fixated” on his shoes.
‘Extremely scared’
Police arrived and helped the named witness restrain Sheard, who resisted but was cuffed, placed in a police van and taken into custody. Officers found the large bread knife in a garden outside the Salvation Army building.
One of the named women in the group said: “As we were walking down the street, I saw a man walking towards us. I was concerned because he was in a drunken state and wasn’t wearing any shoes.
“The male intercepted us by changing direction to walk towards us. He was talking to us and we were stuck in the situation, unable to ignore him.”
She said they told him they had “somewhere to be” and “gently tried to usher him away”, but he then produced a knife, “holding it above his shoulder”.
“Someone shouted, ‘He’s got a knife’, and I felt massive fear and panic,” she added.
The witness said she was “extremely scared” for her friend. I genuinely believed I was about to watch my friend be stabbed by a huge kitchen knife.”
As she and her female friend called police, a “big guy” turned up out of nowhere and took control of the situation.
“I was frantic and hyperventilating,” she added.
The male victim, a social worker, said that Sheard had “veered into our path” as they passed him on the footpath.
He put himself between Sheard and one of his female friends and “asked him what he thought he was doing”.
“He grabbed hold of my shirt,” added the victim.
“He started to mutter something incoherently about my blue, blazered jacket. He produced – seemingly from nowhere – a knife, a brown-handled blade six-to-eight inches (long).
“He lifted the knife in the air, around shoulder height, before pointing it down. I felt absolutely terrified and I honestly believed he was trying to stab me.”
He said he backed off to keep Sheard “at arm’s length to prevent him stabbing me”, but Sheard kept walking towards him.
He then saw a large man restraining Sheard who “kept holding his hand out for me to take”.
“He was still manic and trying to get away from the male,” said the victim.
“He was trying to crawl under him. He was talking about how he wanted my shoes. His behaviour was very bizarre.”
He added: “I genuinely thought I was going to be grievously wounded or worse.”
His girlfriend, who works in the medical profession, said she was in “instant panic” when she saw Sheard pull the knife out of his pocket.
“I was scared that I was about to watch my boyfriend get stabbed and there would be nothing I could do to stop it,” she added.
Grabbed his arms
The ex-soldier said he was returning from dropping off his in-laws at York Railway Station when he saw a man “holding a large kitchen knife” in the street.
“I saw a male backing away from the man with the knife,” he added.
“The man wielding the knife was advancing towards him in a very threatening manner. I believe he was about to imminently attack him.
“I pulled my car onto the pavement. I shouted ‘Hey’ to get his attention and distract him from attacking the male.
“I grabbed his arms, I turned him and pushed him against the wall. He was trying to get away but there was a fair size difference between us.
“At one point he took to the floor and tried to crawl towards the male, muttering something about that male’s shoes.”
Sheard, of Farrar Street, York, was charged with affray, assault and carrying a bladed article. He denied the offences, claiming insanity.
His solicitor James Dixon claimed that Sheard, who had been drinking vodka on the day in question, could not be criminally culpable due to being insane at the time.
A consultant psychiatrist said that Sheard had a range of psychiatric conditions including severe depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sheard had a “history of poor mental health”, compounded by alcohol-and-drug abuse.
He had a record for drink-fuelled violence, having notched up previous convictions for battery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, wounding one of his family members and inflicting grievous bodily arm.
Following his arrest for the ABH offence in 2018, he told police he could “end up killing someone”.
In July 2022, he was jailed for two years for arson after inadvertently setting fire to his own home in the city centre during a three-day cocaine-and-booze binge as he tried to make a film replicating “explosions in the Ukraine war” by popping off fireworks “left, right and centre” inside his bedroom.
The rockets left a hole in his ceiling as smoke billowed out of his window and chimney at the small terrace house.
Sheard was found guilty of affray, assault and carrying a bladed article for the Lawrence Street incident and will be sentenced at York Crown Court on 7 January.