Both Douk Deng, 21, was arrested after he went to Edgar Wood Academy in Heywood, Greater Manchester, armed with a hammer, a hatchet and a kitchen knife
An “attention seeking” man who went to a school armed with a hammer, a hatchet and a kitchen knife has been jailed for two years.
South Sudanese national Both Douk Deng, 21, was arrested after workmen confronted him on the premises of Edgar Wood Academy in Heywood, Greater Manchester, on August 6 last year.
A member of the public earlier raised the alarm after he was observed “behaving oddly” in the street nearby en route to the secondary school holding a petrol can with a hammer tied to his belt.
Deng was “mumbling” as he walked a “full circuit” around the school, which was closed to pupils for the summer, as he scanned the building and then approached it before builders working on site became concerned and called the police.
The defendant was walking away from the premises when he was detained, Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
CCTV footage released by Greater Manchester Police showed Deng kicking over a traffic cone as he walked into the school’s premises and then stamping on another road sign aggressively.
He can also be seen appearing to wave, while carrying the green petrol can, at the workmen who approached him inside the school. A police car then pulled up near the school and bodycam footage showed Deng wailing as he was wrestled to the ground by a police officer.
Deng is told to “stop there” by the officer, who then tells him to “get on the ground now” as he attempts to run away. An officer can then be heard saying: “He does have a hammer with him as well. And a hatchet.” Footage then shows Deng being led away in handcuffs to a police van.
The court heard that the defendant, an asylum seeker, had become “increasingly frustrated” that immigration authorities were not providing assistance in his bid to stay and work in the UK. Deng, who has applied for and been refused asylum on three occasions, wanted to “create a scene for attention” to aid his cause, the prosecution alleged.
Along with the hammer and hatchet, he was found to be in possession of a seven-inch kitchen knife and a jerry can containing half a litre of petrol.
A day earlier he was spotted “acting oddly” at another school, Holy Family RC and CE College in Rochdale, also closed to pupils, where he kicked and damaged its intercom.
Sara Haque, defending, said: “He maintains that his actions were not motivated by any desire to injury or harm any person. This was a bizarre and compulsive act lacking in any type of maturity at a time when he was in deep distress having left Sudan and his family in traumatic circumstances.
“He wanted attention and he was in crisis but he was not motivated by hostility towards children, teachers or the wider public. There is no evidence that he threatened any individual.”
Deng, who has a wife and children, was placed in multiple accommodation housing (HMO) on his arrival in the UK, the court was told. Ms Haque said: “He found himself in a foreign country with very limited English and unable to work because of his immigration status. He believed and felt no-one was listening to him and no-one was helping him.
“He felt he had reached the of his ability to cope within the HMO where others in similar circumstances to him had been assisted by the immigration authorities. He became increasingly frustrated that the same was not happening for him. His only wish is to work and find money to support his family.”
Psychiatric reports on the defendant had not identified any major mental health issues, the court heard.
Deng, of Heywood, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a range of offences including criminal damage and possessing weapons and a knife in a public place and on school premises. He has been jailed for two years and must serve up to half his sentence in custody and the remainder on licence.
Judge Bernadette Baxter told him: “I have no power to order the Home Office to do anything. But in my judgment, given your circumstances as a failed asylum seeker who has been in custody for the best part of a year, the Home Office should be doing something rather than nothing to deal with your status in this country.”
Detectives from Rochdale CID worked “thoroughly” to investigate Deng, including examining his mobile phone, but found no evidence of a particular motive or intent, said police.
Chief superintendent Helen Caldbeck, district commander for Rochdale, said: “I’m incredibly proud of the officers’ response to this incident. They were professional and brave in tackling a suspicious man armed with weapons and immediately confronted Deng to keep the public safe. Thankfully no one was close to coming to harm but this was nevertheless a disturbing incident.”
