A POLICE sergeant who was stabbed in an incident in Newport last April “could have died” from his injuries if it was not for receiving emergency surgery and prompt medical care.
Sgt Carl Blanks suffered knife wounds to the abdomen area when attending an incident at a house on St Vincent Lane in Newport on the morning of April 23 last year.
READ MORE: Police sergeant describes moment he was almost stabbed by a man in Newport incident.
Mohammed Ibrahim is on trial at Swansea Crown Court accused of attempted murder against Sgt Blanks, as well as attempting to wound a second police sergeant with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, and arson with the intent to endanger life.
Ibrahim is unfit to stand trial so the jury must decide not his guilt or innocence but whether he committed the alleged acts.
MORE NEWS:
- M48 bridge closed - multiple emergency services at the scene.
- Fire crews spent nine hours tackling blaze at three-storey building in Monmouth.
- Cocaine dealer recruited his own mother-in-law into his drugs gang.
Swansea Crown Court heard evidence from Dr Gethin Williams, a consultant surgeon at the Royal Gwent Hospital.
Dr Williams told the jury that Sgt Blanks “almost died”, and had it not been for the medical care he received from other officers, who cleaned his wound and wrapped it in cling film, and an emergency laparotomy operation, he could’ve gone into septic shock.
Describing Sgt Blanks’ injuries, Dr Williams said there was a “six centimetre oblique laceration in his abdomen.”
He added the knife had “punctured the small bowel” and a part of his intestine was “protruding out of the laceration.”
Fire officer Martin Fisher produced a report following an investigation into the cause and origin of the fire.
Mr Fisher concluded that the fire had most probably been started after a pile of clothes and bedding was set alight on the floor of the bedroom.
“The most probable cause was a naked flame being brought into contact with combustible materials,” he said.
He said that no chemicals or accelerants were found in the room.
Owen Williams, representing Ibrahim, asked Mr Fisher if he was able to rule out an ‘accidental’ cause for the fire, to which Mr Fisher said he was.
PC Jen Harrington, who was first on the scene with her partner PC Lauren Price, said
“He started doing a jabbing motion several times towards the sergeant and Ryan (PC Morton),” she said.
“Straight away the sergeant said ‘I’ve been stabbed’.”
PC Harrington said she later saw a “kitchen knife” with a “silver blade and a black handle” on the roof as she went up to check the man had been secured.
A statement from the forensics team was also submitted, which stated they had found Ibrahim’s DNA on the handle of the knife, although it was not possible to determine when this was from.
DC Victoria Williams, Gwent Police’s officer on the case, showed the court the knife which had been collected as evidence, as well as the clothing Sgt Blanks had been wearing at the time.
Concluding, prosecutor Julia Cox said: “The police entered that room after a number of minutes of discussions with Mr Ibrahim, and it was almost immediately that Sgt Blanks was stabbed and seriously injured.
“He had, when you consider the evidence of PC Morton, the knife throughout.
“He was determined to have the knife on his person despite the warnings of police officers.
“Somebody who is doing that, what is going through their mind?
“We know from the fire officer where the origin of the fire was. We know there was no-one else in the room at the time.
“Who set the fire when Mr Ibrahim was the only person in that room?”
Mr Williams did not put forward a defence case. Instead, he asked the jury to reach a conclusion based on the evidence they have heard.
“You may well find on the evidence of this case that you are sure that Mohammed Ibrahim stabbed Sgt Blanks. But can you be sure that he intended to kill?
“Can you be sure that in the dark, smoke-filled room that he tried to strike Sgt Healan with a knife. Can you be sure that someone doing that was trying to cause serious harm to police sergeant Healan?
“Please go on to consider, can you be sure someone doing that would have intended to endanger others, or is it that he – Mr Ibrahim – committed the act of arson being reckless?”
The jury has been sent out to deliberate and reach a verdict.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article