Knife attacker believed his life was in danger

Scene of stabbing incident 16 June 2015

(CNS): A George Town man charged with attempted murder in relation to a daylight knife attack on the streets of the Cayman Islands capital last year took the stand in his own defence Monday. David Bodden told the court he was just trying to apprehend Blake Barrell, the man he is accused of attempting to kill when he cut his throat. He said he was an emotional mess that day and was frustrated because the police were not able to catch Blake and a second man (who cannot be named for legal reasons), as he believed the men were out to kill him. 

“The way they were acting, they meant business,” he told the jury that will decide his fate, as he explained the events leading up to the attack.

Bodden is facing an attempted murder charge after the knife assault against Barrell in June of last year. He told the court that after ramming Barrell off the road and chasing him, he was just trying to hold him until the police came.

But crown counsel questioned why he had a blade in his hand if he was only trying to apprehend Barrell and claimed Bodden was lying to the court. “The reason he took out the blade was because he wanted to use it on Mr Barrell and he wanted to kill him,” the prosecutor said.

The jury heard closing arguments from both prosecution and defence on Tuesday after all the evidence in the case was concluded.  Justice Charles Quin is expected to direct the jury today (Wednesday) before sending them to deliberate on the case.

Check back to CNS later for the verdict.