Man thought teen he met on Grindr was 'pleasant' - until he stabbed him 14 times

A teenager stabbed a man he'd met online 14 times with a kitchen knife then lied that he'd been tricked into thinking his victim was a woman, a court has heard. The reason why Dexter Davies carried out the "frenzied attack" on the man he met on the dating site Grindr remains unknown.

Sending the defendant down for inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, a judge at Swansea Crown Court told the 18-year-old he was fortunate he was not being sentenced for murder. Davies showed no emotion during the hearing.

James Hartson, prosecuting, said in September last year the defendant initiated contact with the profile of a man on the internet dating app. Davies - who was calling himself Danny and claiming to be 18 though he was actually 17 - and the man exchanged messages and subsequently met up.

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The two males spent time together and engaged in "consensual sexual activity" at the man's house in Port Talbot. The court heard that at that stage there were no concerns about Davies' behaviour, the pair seemed to enjoy each other's company, and they "parted on good terms".

The prosecutor said the man did not expect to hear from Davies again but eight days later the defendant, using a different profile name on Grindr, contacted him. The pair chatted and it quickly became apparent who the new profile belonged to, and the pair agreed to met again.

The court heard they once again went to the man's house and Davies asked the man - who is in his 40s - whether he had handcuffs and a blindfold, items the man did not have. The defendant told the man he had "something in mind" and told him to lay on his front as he pulled the man's T-shirt up over his head.

The court heard the man felt the teenager's hands on his body and at first thought that the defendant was going to give him a massage, but then he felt a series of what he believed to be punches to his back delivered with "great force". During the assault Davies remained silent.

The court heard the man was able to get up and turn around and he saw the defendant was holding a large kitchen knife in his hand and appeared "shocked". Davies then struck out at the man's face with the blade. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here

The victim shouted at Davies and the teenager fled from the property, running into the garden of neighbouring house and discarding the knife as he did so. Davies told the neighbour he had met a woman who had turned out to be a man and who had tried to stab him, and asked if he could use the phone to ring his mother.

The prosecutor said the claims made by Davies that there had been some kind of "subterfuge" were completely without evidence and were part of an attempt by the teenager to blacken the name of his victim which had also included him "continually trying to mislead professionals" involved in the case. The court heard the police were contacted and the defendant was arrested.

He answered "no comment" to all questions asked in interview. Detectives recovered a knife from near the victim's home and the court heard officers were given permission to examine knives at the defendant's family home - the recovered knife matched the brand and type of knives found in the house.

Meanwhile the victim had been taken to hospital where medics found 14 stab wounds to the man's back, shoulders, and face along with other wounds. One of the injuries was a deep wound to the lower back which was just an inch from the spine, and there was another deep wound to the man's cheek.

In an impact statement from the victim which the prosecutor read to the court the man said Davies had seemed like a "pleasant young man" and there was nothing in his demeanour to make him nervous. He said he had no idea why the defendant had attacked him and he was sure that in taking the knife to his house his assailant had intended to use serious or even fatal violence.

The man said he had been left feeling nervous and frightened of being alone, and said that in the aftermath of the attack his house - with its blood stains on the floor - had felt like living in a crime scene. He added that he felt "foolish" for letting the incident happen, and said the attack had badly affected his self-confidence.

Dexter Davies, now aged 18, of Brynhyfryd Road, Briton Ferry, had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and to possession of a knife when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

Megan Williams, for Davies, reminded the court about the principles of sentencing for young offenders and on their focus on rehabilitation. She invited the court to take the "unusual step" in such a case of imposing a youth referral order to allow the work of reducing the risk the defendant poses to begin immediately.

Recorder Mark Powell KC said Davies had carried out a "frenzied attack" on his victim which could have had fatal consequences, and although he had read reports on the defendant the motivation for the "horrendous assault" remained a mystery to him. He told the teenager it was only due to "good fortune" that he was not facing a murder sentence.

The judge said Davies had taken the knife to the man's house and then told the neighbour a "completely made up story" about sex with a woman which he seemed to have prepared in advance, and he noted Davies had then lied to the authors of the pre-sentence report and the psychiatric report.

Recorder Powell said he was mindful of the guidelines on sentencing young people but given the gravity of the pre-planned attack the rehabilitation part of any sentence would have to come after a period of detention. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Davies was sentenced to three-and-a-half years detention in a young offenders institution.

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