Jersey man jailed for 17 years after stabbing pub-goer with kitchen knife

A 58-year-old man who stabbed another with a kitchen knife at a pub in St Helier has been jailed for 17 years.

Paul Anthony Hadikin was found guilty of attempted murder by a Jury at a four-day trial at Jersey's Royal Court in July.

He was originally due to be sentenced in October, but a new date had to be set after Hadikin decided to sack his lawyer.

Firearms officers were called out to the Temple Bar on Stopford Road in December 2021 after reports of a man being stabbed with a knife "the size of a sword".

A 30-year-old man was taken to hospital with abdominal wounds and had to undergo three emergency operations, and is still awaiting further treatment to this day.

At the time of Hadikin's arrest, Jersey Police said the two men knew each other but had fallen out.

During the trial, Hadikin pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempted murder and claimed he had fetched the knife in order to scare the man.

A victim impact statement read out in court stated he will never be able to return to his job, and that he has been left unable to carry out even simple tasks around the house, like taking the bins out as a result of the attack.

Jersey's Bailiff, Timothy Le Cocq, handed down his sentence at the island's Royal Court today.

He described the attack as "premeditated, calculated and brutal", and concluded that it was "merely luck" the victim was still alive today, justifying the 17-year custodial sentence.

DC Lynn Lang led Jersey Police's investigation. She said: "This was a deliberate act of revenge by Hadikin, following an earlier confrontation that left him feeling angry and humiliated. We hope that the sentence handed down today provides the victim with some closure from what must have been a frightening experience that continues to impact his life."

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