UK: Teen gets 14 years for stabbing gay man in chest
A teenager has been jailed for stabbing a gay man in the chest, piercing his heart in the process.
Police and the judge believed the attack on Mr Nascimento, who works as a cleaner, was homophobic, given the area where it took place.
Evans had been drinking on the night of the incident and had taken cocaine in the toilets of a pub.
Mr Nascimento spent time in intensive care following the stabbing and required emergency surgery.
The jury was also told of a 999 call made by Evans less than a year before the incident, in which he threatened to stab police officers and set them alight.
Sentencing Evans to 14 years in a Young Offenders Institute, the Recorder of Chester, Judge Elgan Edwards said Mr Nascimento was still deeply affected by his injuries – both mentally and physically.
The Chester Chronicle reports he has been left mentally distraught, suffering anxiety, paranoia and insomnia and is awaiting counselling.
He is also reluctant to go swimming, something he did regularly before the attack, because of the scarring on his chest.
Judge Edwards told Evans: “It is a terrible thing to see a man of just 19 – only 18 when you committed this crime – standing in the dock.
“But your behaviour that night was quite disgraceful.
“You were convicted correctly by the jury of wounding with intent to do serious harm. You armed yourself with a knife, wandered round the streets of Chester and found your way deliberately to the Walls at a place you knew well was a meeting point for homosexuals.
“I’m quite satisfied this was pre-meditated, homophobic attack – you did not have that knife on you for any other reason.
“All this man was doing was talking to his friend but he ended up nearly dead as a result.”
Richard Riley, Senior Crown Prosecutor with Mersey-Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service, said: “We have always believed that Floyd Evans stabbed My Nascimento because he thought he was gay and that Evans went to that part of the city walls that night for that very reason.
“Evans is clearly a violent man, quite possibly harbouring sinister feelings towards certain sections of our community.
“This was what we describe as a hate crime and the Crown Prosecution Service is determined to bring those responsible to justice.
“Mr Nascimento had done nothing wrong on the night he was attacked and it is only because of the swift actions of his friend, a passing police officer, the paramedics and the staff at the Royal Liverpool Hospital that he is still alive today.
“We welcome the sentence handed out to Floyd Evans today. He now has several years in prison ahead of him to reflect on the violence and recklessness of his actions on that night.”
