A teenager has been jailed for stabbing three people in Norwich in October last year.

Norfolk Constabulary said: “An 18-year-old man has been sentenced after a series of stabbings on Prince of Wales Road in Norwich during the early hours of Saturday 9 October last year.

“Thomas James, of Bolton Road, Norwich has been given a custodial sentence at Norwich Crown Court today (2 March 2022). He has been sentenced for three counts of causing grievous bodily harm, six years for the first offence and two years each for the subsequent offences.

“He has also been sentenced to 18 months for possession of a knife in a public place after previously pleading guilty to the offences. All sentencing is to run concurrently.

“The judge also concluded that James met the criteria for ‘dangerousness’ and taking into account his previous convictions that he represents a risk of serious harm to others for which he received an extended period of three years.

“On Saturday 9 October at around 12.30am, police officers were on patrol in the Prince of Wales Road area of Norwich when they saw a group of around five men fighting near to Bar and Beyond.

“Thomas was seen to reach into his trouser pocket and walk around the back of the first victim. As the teenage victim turns around, Thomas then lunges forward and causes a laceration to the victim’s arm and buttock area.”

The police continued: “He is also later found to have sustained a one-inch laceration to the chest area, leading officers to believe he could have lost his life.

“Officers run to the scene and CCTV footage shows James place both hands behind his back and begin walking backwards, hiding his hands from the view of the officers arriving on scene.

“Another camera then captures James dipping into his pocket on a second occasion, near Demos Continental Off Licence on the same road, holding something in his hand while looking at a second victim aged in his 20s, mouthing something toward him.

“He then swings his arm backwards and thrusts at the second victim, who receives a laceration in his armpit. Thomas attacks a second time, he misses and hits a door frame.

“The victim managed to dodge out of the way and a third man, Alan Gray, in his 60s, intervened and pushed Thomas into the doorway. As Thomas retreated up a stairwell to flats above the off-licence, Mr Gray kept him pinned against a window until police arrived to arrest him.

“Officers then spotted Mr Gray had a small wound to the left-hand side of his stomach which was treated by paramedics at the scene. The other two victims were taken to hospital with their injuries.”

The police added: “The judge commended Mr Gray for his bravery in stepping in to apprehend James at considerable risk to himself.”