Chorley man jailed for attacking two police officers with a knife

A man from Chorley who pleaded guilty to attempting to cause two Lancashire Police officers grievous bodily harm has been jailed.

Morgan Evans, 20, was at the Ramada Hotel in the early hours of 16 January 2023 when officers tried to speak with him to carry out a welfare check.

He went out of the first-floor fire escape where one officer approached him, whilst the other officers stayed inside the hotel on the other side of the fire door.

Evans made several threats towards the officers, before trying to stab the closest officer to him with a knife he had taken from the hotel kitchen.

A second officer opened the fire door from inside and Evans lunged at him with the knife, piercing the outer layer of his body armour. Fortunately, it connected with the phone in his pocket avoiding serious injury.

Despite officers deploying incapacitant spray and a Taser, it took some time for Evans to stop thrusting the knife and calm down enough to be disarmed and arrested.

Evans made no comment in interview and initially pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, attempted grievous bodily harm and possession of cannabis, a class B drug.

A month before the trial, Evans changed his plea to guilty, accepting he attempted to cause grievous bodily harm to the two officers and had been in possession of cannabis.

He was sentenced today at Manchester Crown Court to four years and nine months' imprisonment.

Victoria Agullo, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: "This was a sustained attempt to cause really serious harm to officers who were simply trying to carry out a welfare check.

"The officers involved showed great patience in dealing with Mr Evans and it's thanks to their expert handling that no-one was seriously injured and the matter didn't escalate further.

"I hope today's sentence sends a clear message to anyone who arms themselves with a knife and attempts to harm police officers that such behaviour will not be tolerated in our society."