A man, who stabbed a police officer outside his own home in a frenzied attack, has pleaded guilty to attempted murder.
John McCartney, 40, of Eastwood Road, Rayleigh appeared at Basildon Crown on Monday 13 January where he pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and possessing an offensive weapon.
The court heard McCartney, became fixated with the officer, launching a campaign of harassment against him on social media, despite the pair only ever saying ‘hello’ in passing.
On Wednesday, 24 April 2019, at around 9 pm, the officer was at his family home in Rayleigh when there was a knock at the door.
The officer went outside to see who it was, and it was then that, without warning, McCartney launched a sustained and frenzied knife attack on the officer.
Despite suffering 11 stab and slash wounds, a number of which were extremely serious, the officer, using tactics learnt during his police training, battled valiantly to keep McCartney away from his family home and to restrain him to prevent him causing harm to his family and neighbours.
He suffered stab wounds to the arm, armpit, chin, shoulder, chest, abdomen and stomach.
The injury to the officer’s stomach both penetrated his bowel and left it exposed.
Despite his serious injuries and as McCartney continued to slash at him with a knife, but the officer managed to tackle McCartney to the ground, jump on his back and then lay on top of him restraining him until help arrived.
The officer was helped by his wife and neighbours who helped restrain McCartney and treated his injuries until police and paramedics arrived.
The officer was taken to hospital in a critical condition where he underwent surgery to his injuries. He is now recovering at home from the physical and emotional scars of that day.
Following yesterday’s hearing Chief Constable BJ Harrington said:
“Today I am proud and humbled to say I am a colleague of this officer.
“Despite being the victim of a frenzied attack, despite suffering horrific and life-changing injuries, he continued to put the safety of his family and his neighbours first.
“With devastating and critical injuries, he tackled and restrained McCartney to ensure he did not and could not hurt anyone else.
“He is a credit to Essex Police both as an officer and a human being, he is a credit to his community and a credit to his family.
“I would also like to pay tribute to this officer’s wife and neighbours, police colleagues and paramedics who rushed to his aide. I cannot imagine the scene they must have faced and I have no doubt their actions played a vital part in saving his life.
“I must also thank our team of detectives, who as always, have shown their dedication and professionalism in extremely difficult circumstances and worked tirelessly to put this case before the courts.
“Any violent attack on any individual, regardless of their profession, is unacceptable.
“There is no doubt that the fact the victim in this case is a serving Essex Police officer was part of the motivation of this attack.
“Every day, across the country, police officers run into the face of danger whilst others run away. They protect and serve you, their communities, often without a second thought for the risk or danger they may face.
“But sadly, all too often, they are assaulted, sometimes with the most tragic, serious and devastating, consequences.
In a statement, the officer who was the victim of this attack said:
“The events of Wednesday, 24 April, have had a huge impact on not just my life but those of my family, close friends, neighbours, and policing colleagues.
“They, like me, continue to live with the emotional scars of that day but I am thankful to all of them – my wife, family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and paramedics who undoubtedly not only saved my life on that day but have continued to support me since.
“Words are not enough to describe how much everything they have done and all of their love and support has meant to me.
“I am also grateful to my detective colleagues who I know have worked extremely hard to investigate the events of that day.
“This is a very difficult time for both me and my loved ones and, as my family and I try to return to some sort of normality, I would ask that our privacy is respected at this time.
“But I continue to be grateful for the support and well wishes from the community.“
McCartney was remanded and will return to Basildon Crown Court for sentence on 6 March.
A reporting restriction is in place that prevents anything from being published that will lead to the identity of the officer or his family.
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This country seriously needs the return of capital punishment.