Paignton stab attack teen ‘should have been in secure unit’

A teenager who should have been in a secure unit carried out a stabbing and two robberies after being left unsupervised, a court heard.

Sean Sims, 18, led a gang on a crime spree in Devon that ended with him stabbing a stranger in the back last January, Exeter Crown Court heard.

He admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, two robberies and two assaults on police.

He was sentenced to eight years at a young offender institution on Thursday.

Sims, of The Esplanade, Paignton, was also handed a two-year extended licence.

Kevin Hopper, defending, said council officials had tried to find a secure unit for Sims after his release from a previous detention but none were available in England and Wales, which he described as “ridiculous”.

Instead Sims was placed in a £30-a-night hotel on Paignton seafront.

‘Night-time curfew’
He led two separate gangs in different attacks in Torquay and Paignton within the space of six weeks, the court was told.

In January 2019, when Sims was on bail with a 22:00 GMT night-time curfew, he and three friends targeted a 23-year-old man in Paignton at about 22:30.

CCTV footage caught Sims flashing a knife seconds before the stabbing, the court heard.

The victim suffered two stab wounds, a punctured lung and stomach, and required four weeks off work.

Along with four 16-year-olds, Sims, then 17, also chased three men before mugging two of them in Torquay in December 2018.

They stole wallets and mobile phones, and one of the victims was cut across the cheek with a knife.

Three of the boys involved have been referred to the National Crime Agency as potential cases for modern slavery, the court heard.

Torbay Council said it would “not be appropriate” to comment at this time because the case is still ongoing.

Source: (BBC News)