A man who carried out a string of knife attacks in Edmonton last spring has been sentenced to live in a mental hospital.
Over four days in March and April of 2019, 31-year-old Jason Kakaire went on a rampage that left five total strangers seriously injured, and one paralyzed. At the Old Bailey on Friday, the 25th September Kakaire was sentenced to the hospital after pleading guilty to five counts of Section 18 grievous bodily harm and five counts of possession of an offensive weapon.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Soole, who led the investigation, said that the five attacks were totally random and unprovoked, and every victim sustained serious harm. He also said that the attacks left the whole community in fear for days.
“The force used was brutal and it is only by sheer luck that all five victims survived,” Soole.
Kakaire still has not given any explanation for his acts of violence.
Jason Kakaire, who stabbed five people in random attacks in Edmonton, sent to Rampton https://t.co/E9DHQ5epjN
— GlobalNet Pictures (@GlobalNet_Pics) September 26, 2020
According to the Metropolitan Police, Kakaire’s first attack took place on the 30th of march on Aberdeen Road, N18, at around 19:00hrs. The victim was a woman in her mid-40s, and he just approached her and stabbed her in the back. The victim remained in hospital for several months and has been left wheelchair-bound permanently paralyzed.
After that first attack, Kakaire spent the next few hours walking the streets and shopping in Tesco on Fore Street before returning to his flat. That evening, Kakaire left his home and found his second victim near Park Avenue, a man in his 50s. About three hours later, Kakaire struck again where he stabbed a man in his 20s on Fore Street. Six hours after that he struck his fourth victim on Lansfield Avenue.
Kakaire was spotted during his final attack and a description was circulated for officers in the community. Thanks to the description that was circulated, he was recognized by officers near Edmonton Green. His clothing was still covered in blood when he was spotted by police, and after his arrest, the blood tested as a match for the fourth victim. They also found weapons in his possession that had the blood of the other victims.
Three further victims provided their impact statements to the court and all of them said that they were now afraid to go outside alone at night following the assaults.
There were 43,516 knife crime offences in the 12 months ending March 2019.
This is an 80% increase from the low-point in the year ending March 2014, when there were 23,945 offences, and is the highest number since comparable data was compiled.
These statistics do not include those from Greater Manchester Police because of data recording issues.
Out of the 44 police forces, 43 recorded a rise in knife crime since 2011.
The number of knife-related homicides went from 272 in 2007 to 186 in 2015. Since then it’s risen every year, with a steep increase in 2017-18, when there were 285 killings, the highest figure since 1946.
One in four victims were men aged 18-24. In the year to March 2019, 22,041 people were cautioned, reprimanded or convicted for carrying a knife in England and Wales
