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21st May, 2022

'Drug-addled and paranoid' man brandished knife outside club before stabbing himself

A ‘DRUG-ADDLED and paranoid’ young man who brandished a knife during an incident outside a Leamington bar later spent two weeks in hospital after stabbing himself.

And Tyler Hemingway was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to charges of assault and possessing a bladed article.

The 22-year-old of Murcott Road West, Whitnash, who also admitted further charges of battery and affray, was sentenced to 20 months in prison suspended for two years.

Ordering him to take part in a rehabilitation activity and a drug rehabilitation programme, Judge Peter Cooke told him: “If you let me down, I won’t hesitate to lock you up.”

Prosecutor Ian Windridge said in May Hemingway was outside Murphy’s bar in Regent Street drinking from a bottle when words were exchanged between him and another man.

Hemingway took out a knife, and during a clash between them he struck the man with the knife, causing a two-inch cut to his chest.

The victim was taken to hospital but later refused to allow the police access to his medical records.

Just over a week later a man was in Admiral Way in Leamington when Hemingway hit him on the head with a motorcycle crash helmet.

He added Hemingway had previous convictions for offences including battery, but none for carrying weapons, and was on post-release supervision at the time.

Of the first incident, Clare Evans, defending, said Hemingway had been approached by a group of men who had all been drinking.

The second incident related to a debt owed by the man to Hemingway and the assault “had been the result of a gesture of annoyance”.

Miss Evans pointed out that later that day, Hemingway, who had a history of self-harm, had made a serious attempt on his own life, stabbing himself in the abdomen.

Hemingway had overcome a class A drug habit, but was having an ongoing battle with skunk cannabis which had affected him by making him paranoid, said Miss Evans, who added he had frightened himself by what had happened.

Sentencing Hemingway, Judge Cooke told him: ““Everyone is aware of incidents of knives being carried and used and ending the lives of far too many young men of your age or younger. It needs to be stamped out.

“At 22 you have an alarming record. There is low-level violence and drug offences. There have been no convictions for knife offences, but you, a young man drug-addled and paranoid, were habitually carrying a knife.

“In a paranoid episode, you actually stabbed yourself. It is an unusual and a worrying and challenging case. At a young age you have been through an awful lot. It brought you to the stage when you stabbed yourself, and it scared you.”

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