A man who stabbed a neighbour and shot an officer with a crossbow after attempting to “hunt down” police has been jailed. On Wednesday, Aylesbury Crown Court heard Jason King had stabbed neighbour Alistair Mahwuto with a “small knife” during an altercation which had arisen as a result of a “long-standing” dispute.
Police were called to the scene on School Close in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, where King shot repeatedly at officers with a crossbow out of his upstairs window before chasing them with the weapon and shooting an officer, the court was told. The 55-year-old was later shot once by police in the stomach after refusing to put down the weapon when confronted by officers, the court heard.
On Wednesday, King was jailed for nine years with a further three years on extended licence having previously pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, having an article with a blade or point, having an offensive weapon, wounding with intent and affray regarding the incident on May 10 last year.
The sentencing hearing heard that on the day before the shooting, King said his windows had been broken by a neighbour and he had called the police.
Sentencing King, Judge Jonathan Cooper said he had been motivated in part during the shooting by “revenge” and a “sense of grievance” towards his neighbours and police, who he believed had not handled the incident regarding his window appropriately.
Judge Cooper said: “I note that you purchased the crossbow, I don’t accept it was for recreational purposes. I consider that this was an attempt by you to arm yourself in the event of need,” he added.
The judge said that King’s actions, including chasing officers and continuing to shoot at them, were evidence of him “attempting to settle a score with police”.
“It was as if you were trying to hunt down the officer, chasing him, aiming at his body,” he added.
Prosecutor Graham Smith said the officer had seen King “grinning” as he exited his address before shooting him in the leg, resulting in a two to three-centimetre wound near an artery.
King “persisted” in pointing the crossbow at other officers who confronted him and, given that he had already shot an officer, police decided to shoot him, the prosecutor said.
Mr Smith said it was the prosecution’s case that it was a “great fortune” the officer who was shot had not suffered greater injuries, and that King had appeared to be “hunting” and “stalking” the police.
In a statement read to the court, Mr Mahwuto, 63, who suffered a two-centimetre wound as a result of the stabbing, said the incident had “affected me more than I would have ever imagined” and that a doctor had said his wound could have been fatal had it been a few centimetres higher.
The officer shot by King said the incident had “changed my outlook on life a bit”, and that he feels more “protective” about his colleagues now.
In a statement read by Mr Smith, the officer said: “I don’t want anyone else to experience what I experienced, I hear jobs coming through on the radio and I don’t want my colleagues going out to them.”
He added that it had “knocked” his confidence, and a doctor had told him the injury could have been “catastrophic”.
In mitigation, Mark Kimsey, defending, said King accepted the incident was “very frightening” for those involved, and that he had been suffering from a “worsening mental condition”.
Mr Kimsey said it was “not illegal” to possess the crossbow and that “an adult is entitled to own an item without a licence”.
He said: “The item is one that can be freely purchased by anybody and costs less than £20, and was described as a ‘pistol’ crossbow.”
Mr Kimsey added: “It appeared at the time the defendant believed he was able to speak to the neighbour’s dog, and speak in dog,” adding that King thought he had contact with an “Egyptian god”.
King, of School Close, High Wycombe, waved and made a heart-shaped hand gesture towards members of his family seated in the public gallery.
The defendant, wearing a green long-sleeved top and a wooden beaded necklace, shook his head and interrupted the judge at points during the hearing.
An investigation into the shooting of King by the police watchdog praised the “courage, professionalism and sound judgment” of officers involved in the incident.
