Fox on the Hill Wetherspoons pub: Man stabbed in head

Peter Hyacienth, 28, has been jailed after he plunged a knife through a man’s skull at the Fox on the Hill pub in Denmark Hill. 

At a sentencing hearing at Croydon Crown Court, it was explained how a minor remark escalated into a stabbing within the space of three minutes. 

Jack, the victim, and a friend were stood in the smoking area with their girlfriends on March 12 last year when Ras Barton, 27, pulled into the pub’s car park at an excessive speed. 

Barton mounted the curb then reversed into a spot, at which point Jack made a remark about his clumsy parking.

Barton and Hyacienth got out of the car, approached Jack’s group and asked them whether they had a problem. 

Jack asked “what do you mean” while his friend said “it’s ok, there’s no trouble, it’s not a problem”. 

Jack and his friend realised the way the situation was going and moved protectively in front of their girlfriends. 

Barton then pushed Jack and Jack did the same back, before Barton threw the first punch. 

Barton instigated the fight in the pub car park (Image: Metropolitan Police)

A fight broke out at which point Hyacienth joined in and grabbed Jack by the hand.

Jack continued to try to hit Hyacienth and smashed him into a gate, before Jack was thrown to the floor himself. 

When Jack got back to his feet he realised he was unsteady, at which point his girlfriend was horrified to see that he had a blade hanging out of his head. 

Jack was rushed into the pub while Hyacienth turned to security guards and said: “Haha, look at his head.” 

Barton and Hyacienth made a getaway in their car while Jack was taken to hospital.

A CT scan revealed the blade had penetrated his skull and entered his brain. He remained in hospital for 12 days before being discharged.

Peter Hyacienth, 28, stabbed Jack in the head (Image: Metropolitan Police) 

In a statement to police Jack said: “I didn’t see the weapon, I didn’t see the weapon at all. If it was a fight that’s cool. If he pulled out a knife in front of me I would have walked back, it's not worth it.” 

He added: “He couldn’t fight me, that’s why he stabbed me.” 

Hyacienth and Barton were arrested in the following months and in police interviews both men denied any involvement. 

Hyacienth, of Underhill Road in Dulwich, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent on the day his attempted murder trial was due to start. 

He admitted that he stabbed Jack but said he did not mean to stab him in the head.

The following day Barton, of Perry Hill in Lewisham, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating. 

At their sentencing hearing on Monday (April 17) Judge Peter Gower said that despite Jack’s “remarkable recovery” the injuries he suffered have been lifechanging.

Judge Gower sentenced Hyacienth to eight years and one month in prison. 

Barton was given a 12-month community order.