Wigton stabbings: Knifeman Richard Moulton jailed

A judge said Richard Moulton was "clearly a dangerous offender"

A knifeman who stabbed three people in "random" daytime attacks has been jailed for 20 years.

Richard Moulton attacked two men and a woman on King Street, Wigton, on 31 July, leaving them badly injured.

When he was arrested, he told police officers "things just got on top [of me]".

The 50-year-old was sentenced at Durham Crown Court after admitting attempted murder, wounding, grievous bodily harm and assault.

The court heard the two men, aged 71 and 63, were stabbed as they chatted outside a Chinese takeaway, with one knifed in his chest and the other in the stomach.

Onlookers, including a man on holiday with his children, came to their aid before they were airlifted to separate hospitals.

Moulton also attacked a 66-year-old tourist who was with her husband on their first visit to the Cumbrian town, flicking a knife towards her and cutting her hand.

Moulton's motivation for the attacks "remains unclear", the court heard

In a statement, one of the male victims described having "nightmares" about the attack and its aftermath, while another said he had become isolated in his home due to anxiety.

When Moulton passed a former schoolmate in the minutes following the attack, he told him he had recently lost his job and was about to be thrown out of his flat in the town's Redmayne Court.

Police officers said he had been carrying two kitchen knives.

When interviewed, he told them via prepared statements he could not remember the stabbings and had been hearing voices.

Judge James Adkin described the spree as "life-threatening, entirely random violence" and said Moulton was "clearly a dangerous offender".

"Quite what the motivation was remains unclear," he added.