'Psychopath' teen stabbed man in neck with kitchen knife in row over £2

A teenager a man in the neck after he refused to give him £2 during a two-day crime spree, a court heard. Kieran Drewery was 18 when he punched and kicked a 15-year-old, threatened a man with a knife outside a shop, then went to a hotel which provides accommodation for people in difficulty and tried to rob another man.

A sentencing hearing at on Friday, May 2, heard how on October 29 last year, Drewery, a resident of the homeless pods in Rosewarne Road, Camborne, met three teenagers, outside the St Meriadoc and St Martin Church Hall. In an argument he grabbed one of the girls' arms and when her friend intervened, Drewery punched him in the face seven times before kicking him in the head when he was down on the ground, causing injuries to his face and nose. The assault stopped when a neighbour shouted from a window and Drewery fled.

His victim was helped by members of the public and was taken to hospital for treatment. The next day, shortly after 10pm, Drewery approached a man outside Shoe Zone and asked him where the person he shared a tent with was. When the man said he had no idea, Drewery pulled out a kitchen knife but his victims managed to escape, reported .

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Then 15 minutes later Drewery went to the Lowenac hotel in Basset Street and approached a new resident. Drewery asked him for £2 but the man refused and shut the door. Drewery went on to threaten him with his knife saying that he either came out or he would cut him.

In a police interview, the man who was threatened with a knife said Drewery was like "a psychopath looking for someone to kill". Drewery's friend and fellow hotel resident then came out. The court was told that he had always helped him out with money and was owed £50 from him.

However when he refused to give him any more cash saying "he was not a vending machine", Drewery stabbed him in the neck four times with the kitchen knife. His Honour Judge Simon Carr said it was mere chance and a few millimetres which had meant the difference between life and death for this man.

Drewery was arrested and charged with several offences. He pleaded guilty to one count of assault on a person thereby occasioning them actual bodily harm, one of attempt robbery, another of threatening a person with a bladed article and the more serious one of Section 18 - wounding with intent and causing grievous bodily harm in connection with the stabbing.

In mitigation for Drewery, Jason Beal said the young man had showed "disbelief for his own actions". He said: "Now he is lucid and clear sighted he does not understand how this happened."

Mr Beal said Drewery had had a terrible childhood, had fallen in with the wrong crowd and got involved in drugs and alcohol and fell prey to the older residents in the homeless pods. He added: "He received a large back payment from the and as a result he was everyone's best friend in the pods. But when the money ran out that's when his problems started."

He added that while on remand awaiting his sentence, Drewery had made great progress in prison and had completed several courses to better himself and help others and had rekindled his love of books.

Judge Carr said Drewery had had great difficulties explaining his actions which were "almost inexplicable". He said the different incidents over the short period of time would have been terrifying for all those involved.

"That the man you stabbed didn't die was pure chance," he added. "It was a matter of millimetres between surviving and not surviving his wound to the neck.

"You were 18 and I note your damaged childhood. You have shown genuine remorse for what you did. I also note the improvement you made while in custody to help others and improve yourself."

Judge Carr sentenced Drewery to four and a half years in a young offenders' institution. He also imposed a 10-year restraining order not to contact any of his victims.