A man has been jailed for 12 years, with the final four years to be spent on license for a vicious attack in which he stabbed the victim in the chest and face.
Sam Williams, aged 31, of Montgomery was found to have inflicted life-threatening injuries in a violent attack outside a property in Foundry Lane, Welshpool, on Saturday 23 November, 2024.
Officers were called to the scene by paramedics who explained how the casualty had suffered a stab wound that penetrated his lung cavity, causing significant loss of blood. The victim also suffered a lengthy laceration to the left side of his face, narrowly missing his eye.
Williams and the victim were known to each other prior to the attack, but had a strained relationship over personal disagreements in the past. Although the two had generally remained civil with one another, tensions began to mount when a pattern of threatening behaviour from Williams towards the victim began to develop in the weeks before attack.
In an interview, the victim explained how in the hours leading up to the attack, Williams had again been in contact with him via text message and social media, threatening him and his girlfriend.
The court heard how tensions escalated when the defendant video called the victim, threatening him from outside his house.
Fearing for the safety of his girlfriend, the victim stepped outside his front door before Williams jumped out of the bushes, violently stabbing him in the chest and slashing his face.
Describing his attacker, the victim said: “His eyes were scary, and his demeanour was like a psychopath. He wanted to kill me.
“His eyes and face were blank – he didn’t look like a person, he looked like a demon.”, he continued.
The victim said how he didn’t realise he’d been stabbed until he clutched his side, realising it was dripping wet with blood. Williams immediately fled the scene, and the victim stumbled back inside where his girlfriend, who had witnessed the attack, immediately phoned 999.
While paramedics rushed the casualty to hospital for emergency medical treatment – which ultimately saved his life – officers began search efforts to locate and arrest Williams.
Following extensive search enquiries, Williams was located in Oswestry on Monday 25 November, 2024, and was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. A day later, Williams was charged with attempted murder and was remanded into custody.
In the following days, the victim described the impact of the attack. He said: “I’m having regular panic attacks and flashbacks, recalling the event repeatedly around and around in my head, wondering if I could have done something else. It’s as if I’m re-living the trauma and fear associated with it repeatedly. I’m having regular nightmares about it, I’m still yet to sleep properly.”
Williams initially pleaded not guilty to attempted murder during his plea hearing at Mold Crown Court, but later offered a guilty plea for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The plea was accepted by the prosecution, and at a sentencing hearing on Thursday 17 April 2025, His Honour, Judge Rowlands s handed Williams a sentence totalling twelve years when he returned to Mold Crown Court on Thursday 17 April, 2025.
Describing the defendant as a dangerous offender who poses a significant risk to the public, the Judge sentenced Williams to eight years in prison, extended by a further four years on license.
The judge took into consideration a series of previous serious offences committed by the defendant, stating that no previous court order had prevented his violence.
In fact, Williams was already on license for a previous charge of grievous bodily harm when he carried out this attack in Welshpool last November.
The judge acknowledged the significance of the injuries caused to the victim, describing them as physically disfiguring in nature and the ongoing psychological trauma and distress which has followed.
Speaking directly to the defendant, the Judge said: “You’ve been before the court before with depressing regulatory of repeated previous violence.”
In addition, the Judge imposed a fifteen-year restraining order against Williams, in protection of the victim and his girlfriend.
