Dangerous thug who stabbed his own nephew in the chest jailed for five years

In addition to the jail sentence given to Arthur James Hanson at Antrim Crown Court, Judge Alistair Devlin told the 35-year-old that, given the facts of the case and his “substantial record” including multiple entries for violence, he was satisfied Hanson poses such a risk to be classified as a dangerous offender.

As such, Judge Devlin said he was imposing an extended custodial sentence, which means that Hanson’s release will be a matter for the Parole Commissioners rather than subject to remission, and when he is freed he will be subject to an extra two years of supervised licence conditions.

Originally charged with trying to kill his nephew, Hanson, from Mark Street in Portrush, eventually pleaded guilty, on the morning his trial was due to start, to wounding him with intent to cause GBH.

Prosecuting counsel Suzanne Gallagher outlined to the court how police first received a number of 999 calls reporting “that a man had been stabbed on Glenarm Avenue” in Portrush, with one caller naming “Arty Hanson” as the assailant.

Police attended and, despite difficulties around establishing what had happened, Ms Gallagher told the court it appeared that Hanson and his then-partner, Stacey Stirling, had been in the area, with Ms Stirling allegedly damaging a Seat Leon with a metal crutch. It was also then when the victim was stabbed.

Again, witnesses named Hanson as the assailant, but police were not able to speak to the victim until later that evening as his injuries were deemed too severe by doctors.

Officers searching the area found a crutch and a knife nearby and Ms Gallagher said Hanson was arrested just over an hour after the stabbing incident.

When police were eventually able to take a statement from the victim, he told them he heard smashing from outside his home and that, when he looked outside, Ms Stirling was damaging his car with a crutch. When he went outside, Hanson, the victim’s uncle, “came out of nowhere” and struck him.

Initially the victim did not realise he had been stabbed, but it transpired he had sustained a wound which punctured his right lung and doctors had to insert a chest drain at A&E before he underwent surgery.

Arrested and interviewed, Hanson concocted a story of a male, whom he named, “running down the road bare-chested and he had a knife in his hand coming towards him, possibly in his left hand, and it was silver, and he tried to get him and Stacey off-side”.

He denied stabbing his nephew and maintained that stance until the first day of his trial.

Defence counsel Dean Mooney said there had been “significant thawing” in relation to the fall-out in the family at the time, revealing that Hanson regrets taking the side of his then partner against them.

Mr Mooney submitted it was clear from the various reports that Hanson, despite his difficulties, “has made significant strides” within the prison regime.

Sentencing Hanson, Judge Devlin said it was clear the defendant now accepts bringing the knife from his home, where he had been drinking and taking cocaine, adding that the use of the knife, “not simply a weapon but a weapon capable of inflicting catastrophic and indeed fatal injuries”, is an aggravating factor.

According to the reports, Hanson is a man “filled with regrets”, but against that background was his 89 previous offences, many of them for violence, and a victim who has been left with the mental trauma and the “residual scarring” of being stabbed.

Judge Devlin told the defendant he was assessing him as a dangerous offender because of his “propensity to be under the influence of substances and to carry a weapon” and his refusal to respond to “external risk management strategies” such as probation or community disposals.

Due to the triumvirate of culpability, risk and harm, Judge Devlin said he was duty bound to impose an extended custodial sentence and, accordingly, handed Hanson a five-year jail sentence to be followed by two years on licence.