Victim of drug-crazed knifeman recalls Sheffield bar stabbing

Greg Haynes, aged 25, was one of three people stabbed at the Viper Rooms by 24-year-old Taukeer Hussain, who was handed a five-year jail term.

During his trial, Sheffield Crown Court heard Hussain had downed three bottles of vodka and snorted seven lines of cocaine before committing the ‘bizarre’ and ‘unprovoked’ attacks at the city centre nightclub.

In the wake of the stabbing, Greg, of Firth Park, said he has battled depression and has lost two jobs.

Recalling the night, Greg said: “I was stood talking to my mates when Hussain came up and got right into my personal space.

“He had wide eyes and just stared me down for about a minute.

“I tried to ignore it, thinking he would go, but he kept staring at me.

“I eventually asked him: ‘what are you staring for?’. He just gave me this evil look and didn’t say a word.

“As I turned back to my friends I felt this bolt of pain down my left side. I didn’t even see the knife, but I knew I’d been stabbed.

“I pulled up my shirt and there was a gaping hole.

“I don’t think I even felt the full pain because the adrenalin kicked-in and I ran after Hussain thinking ‘you are not getting away with this’.”

Greg collared a bouncer in the club on Carver Street in Sheffield city centre and the pair chased after Hussain, bringing him to a stop outside.

The bouncer found two knives on Hussain.

Greg said: “After we’d caught him, and the adrenalin faded, I started getting faint and passed out due to the blood loss.”

Greg – who was Hussain’s third and final victim that night – was taken to hospital by ambulance.

After being discharged days later, Greg said he was bed-ridden for three weeks due to his injuries and slipped into a deep depression.

As a result of the depression Greg said he has lost two jobs.

He said: “I’m a very sociable person, I used to love going out, but I feel like a part of me was forever taken on that night.

“I still have nightmares of being stabbed and it’s very difficult to be positive after everything Hussain put me through.”

Jailing Hussain, Judge Michael Murphy QC said he presented a ‘real danger to the community’.

He said: “These were three unprovoked and random knife assaults in a licensed premises where a lot of young people go.

“The probation service have said you are high risk of causing serious harm to the public and I’m one to agree with that.

“I have heard some cases in this court where someone has been stabbed in the leg and they have bled to death.”