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From the
https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Sean Delaney, 23 July 2020.
Dartford victim speaks out after Strood man acquitted of attempted murder outside Wetherspoon's pub The Flying Boat.
A stab victim who was knifed four times outside a pub has said he
cannot forgive his attacker, who was acquitted by reason of
insanity.
Stephen Hooper had been drinking in the Flying Boat in Dartford when
IT worker Joel Jueanville attacked him from behind without warning.
Stephen Hooper was stabbed four times in the back.
The 61-year-old was taken to hospital on May 25 last year after
receiving four blows to his back from a lock knife. He has since
recovered physically but has suffered flashbacks.
The ex-marine spoke of his "sheer surprise and shock" to learn Mr
Jueanville, of Frindsbury Road, Strood, was acquitted of attempted
murder on grounds of insanity on Thursday last week.
It comes after prosecution lawyers accepted during the trial that
the 32-year-old was suffering from a mental illness at the time of
the attack in Dartford.
Mr Hooper had gone for a smoke outside the Wetherspoon's pub when he
was struck from behind.
He described enjoying a conversation with two ladies and their
dog when he felt something hard push against his back
"I think I got half way through my pint," Mr Hooper said. At first
he thought it might have been someone patting him on the back but
"it was too hard and it really hurt".
He said: "I stood up holding my back. I realised as I brought my
hands away they were already covered in blood.
"Without any forewarning I got stabbed four times in the back. Two
of the stab wounds punctured my left lung.
"One chipped off a piece of my spinal cord. The last one was less
than a millimetre from my kidney.
"I was told if they had hit the kidney, I would have bled out."
Mr Hooper was taken to King's College Hospital in London where he
was treated for his injuries and spent the night under observation.
He returned to Dartford around eight days later to praise the
workers at the pub who he credits with helping save his life.
"The first thing I did was go to the Flying Boat to thank the bar
staff because they were using T-shirts to stem the blood while we
waited for the ambulance," he said.
Mr Jueanville returned to the pub nine days after the stabbing.
He was arrested after a member of the bar staff recognised him and
alerted police who found him outside, carrying a lock knife which
contained Mr Hooper's DNA on its tip.
At the trial, eyewitness Kira Woodcock described Mr Jueanville
walking off “really casually and slowly without a care in the
world”.
During the hearing, a psychiatrist revealed Mr Jueanville had
admitted to having hallucinations about voodoo and witchcraft.
Dr Tim Rogers told the jury at Maidstone Crown Court Mr Jueanville
believed "in that moment" he was acting to save himself and
therefore the defence of insanity applied as he was unaware his
actions were legally wrong.
"There is no alternative or rational motive for Joel Jueanville to
assault the victim in quite the way he did," he explained.
Defence barrister Oliver Saxby QC said after the hearing: "Insanity
applies where someone has a defect of reason as a result of some
sort of recognised mental illness and either they didn’t know the
nature and quality of the act they did or they didn’t know that what
they were doing was against the law.
"All the experts agreed he had a disease of the mind at the time he
stabbed the victim – namely schizophrenia – and they all agreed he
was suffering from symptoms of this at the time he stabbed the
victim – namely delusions."
After the trial, Judge Philip St John-Stevens thanked the defendant
for his behaviour in what he called "one of the most unusual cases I
have ever been involved with in 30 years".
Mr Hooper reacted angrily to the verdict, which had been subject to
repeated delays due to the pandemic.
He said he was "gutted" after waiting such a long time, adding that
he felt the judge's wording did not take into account the serious
injuries he sustained.
"It should have been he is guilty but he has mental health
problems," he said.
Mr Jueanville will now stay at a secure mental hospital and the
judge will receive two reports from psychiatrists before making an
order under the Mental Health Act.
Meanwhile, Mr Hooper says the attack has left him "jumpy" and he
suffers regular flashback and panic attacks.
He has since moved away from the area and is currently shielding
with his partner as he is classified as vulnerable owing to his
diabetes and a heart condition.
In the months following the stabbing, he says he would often sit
with his back protected against a wall or a window.
He also had flashbacks after watching an episode of Midsomer Murders
in which someone is stabbed in the back in a cemetery.
"Immediately, that sent me in a spin," he said.
As a practising Catholic, Mr Hooper said the attack had left him
troubled and he had sought guidance from a priest.
"It felt so purposeful how he stabbed me.
"If he showed some remorse I might start to get over it," he added.
"You can't forgive someone who has got off scot-free."
The hearing was adjourned until next month for reports to be
prepared. |
