Manchester stabbings: Knifeman slashed five rough sleepers at random

Kieran McLoughlin denied the attacks in Parker Street and Market Street

A man who stabbed five rough sleepers in a "random, unprovoked spree of violence" has been jailed for 18 years.

Kieran McLoughlin, 32 and of no fixed address, denied the Manchester city centre attacks on 12 January 2020.

But a jury at Manchester Crown Court found him guilty of five counts of wounding with intent.

His victims suffered "extremely nasty" facial injuries in the "truly shocking" assaults, said Det Con Lindsey Morgan of Greater Manchester Police.

McLoughlin's first victim was a man in Parker Street who had a sleeping bag across his shoulder, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

When asked whether he could spare him any change, McLoughlin pulled out a knife before slashing the rough sleeper's face and walking away.

'Unprovoked'

McLoughlin then lashed out at another rough sleeper in Market Street, slashing his cheek.

He then passed another man, who was lying in a sleeping bag with a paper cup in front of him.

McLoughlin leaned down, pretending to put a coin in and took the cup, the CPS said.

He then walked on and stabbed two others before returning to the man he stole the cup from and stabbing him in the back.

Members of the public who witnessed the last of the five attacks alerted police and McLoughlin was arrested on a tram in Market Street.

"McLoughlin preyed on vulnerable males in Manchester city centre, stabbing five men in what appears to have been a random, unprovoked spree of violence," said Jayne Sharp of the CPS.

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