A man who researched the Southport stabbings has been jailed for 30 years for the attempted murder of a nine-year-old girl.
Jordan Wilkes was convicted following the attack on 20 August last year – three weeks after the Southport stabbings.
The 29-year-old stabbed the girl three times as she was playing in the stairwell of the flats where he lived with his mother in Glider Close, Christchurch, Dorset.
Berenice Mulvanny, prosecuting, told Bournemouth Crown Court the victim and her friend had been playing on the stairs when Wilkes came out of his flat and approached the two youngsters while concealing a folding pocket knife.
He then stabbed the victim in the neck, chest and knee while grabbing her by the arm and hair. The youngster was said to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Ms Mulvanny said that Wilkes tore a clump of hair out from the girl which she suggested he kept as a “trophy” until he was told to throw it away by his mother.
The girls managed to run away and get help until the emergency services arrived.
Ms Mulvanny said that a search of the defendant’s home found a number of knives, several of which had been hidden around the premises.
Analysis of his mobile phone revealed 69 files relating to YouTube videos, news articles and podcasts focused on murders and child killings.
This included the so-called “Valentine’s Day massacre” at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 in which 17 people were killed.
And a day after the Southport killings, he had clicked on a link for a local dance class, the court heard.
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