Officers called to Sheffield crime scene after double stabbing believed child had been killed

'Dangerous offender' Marcus Hamlin was handed a 14-and-a-half year sentence on Tuesday comprised of nine years, six months of custody and a five-year extended licence period, for stabbing a woman and a teenage girl during an incident in the Manor area of Sheffield in the early hours of August 30, 2022.

The sentence was passed by The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, who said Hamlin was 'undoubtedly suffering delusional thoughts by reason of paranoid schizophrenia,' at the time of the incident, although he had not yet been diagnosed with the condition.

During the course of an evening of 'ever-escalating violence' Hamlin inflicted over 30 injuries to the woman and girl, including stab wounds, and left the girl with a 'substantial' head injury, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Speaking after Hamlin was jailed, a South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said officers were called to the scene by members of the public who rang the alarm after finding a woman injured in the street.

The spokesperson added: "Attending officers were faced with the tragic scene of a woman with serious stab injuries and believing a child had been killed. Officers found the child in a nearby property with a substantial head wound.

"The offender, identified as Marcus Hamlin, was located nearby with an injury to his wrist, and quickly arrested."

Hamlin, of Dawlands Close, Manor, Sheffield, was later charged with two counts of attempted murder, but prosecutors subsequently accepted guilty pleas to the charge of wounding with intent, which carries a lower sentence.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Hannah Bryan, said: “Throughout the course of the investigation we carried out multiple interviews and enquiries to try and piece together exactly what happened during the attack and the lead up to it. We were told that Hamlin had first begun attacking the woman, before going on to assault the child,"

"There were over 30 injuries caused to the victims, the majority caused by a kitchen knife and a meat cleaver."

DC Bryan added: “In the space of an evening, the lives of everyone affected were changed forever. While it is extremely lucky that both victims have now physically recovered from the significant injuries they suffered, I know that the impacts of that night’s events for them, do not end there. However, I hope that today’s sentencing can offer some closure.”