Bournemouth pub landlord jailed for Stanley knife attack

The exact motives for David Paul Warnock’s grave assault upon Ross Burns in the early hours of the morning remain unclear, a court heard.

During a trial, the complainant said he thought Warnock, who was running the King’s Arms in Wallisdown at the time of the incident, wrongly believed “everyone was stealing” from him or “doing him over”.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard this belief included a man who was an associate and friend of Mr Burns, which led to the defendant appearing to have “hostility” towards the complainant.

David Paul Warnock (Image: Dorset Police)

Warnock, 62 and of Crescent Road, Bournemouth, was in the dock on Wednesday, April 5, to be sentenced for an offence of unlawful wounding.

Having consumed alcohol and smoked cannabis, Warnock armed himself with the weapons and disturbed Mr Burns and Carrie-Ann Symonds, who were in bed in a residential part of the pub, by urinating on the door to the room.

The court heard Mr Burns, who is aged in his 30s, came to the door and when it was opened Warnock “slashed him” with the Stanley knife.

Sentencing judge Master Richard Davison said this inflicted a “very serious wound to his left arm”.

Had it not been for “skilful surgery”, Mr Burns would have been faced a significant disability, the judge said. He was left with a “very bad scar” and “minor” ongoing problems.

The judge said the defendant’s motives were “somewhat obscure”.

Mitigating, Tom Evans said there was a clear link between his client’s post-traumatic stress disorder, which came from his time in the army, and his behaviour on the night of the incident.

“He genuinely believed that these people were out to get him,” Mr Evans said.

The barrister said Warnock had a “promising military career” which was cut short due to his experiences in the army, particularly in Northern Ireland.

Mr Evans said the defendant appeared to have turned his life around, he was making “really promising steps” and he had opportunities ahead of him before the incident occurred on October 21, 2021.

“By his actions he has lost that opportunity, he will have lost his (alcohol) licence and he has lost the pub,” Mr Evans said.

“He lost his dog who was of particular importance to him, also his motorbike and his boat.”

The court heard Warnock wanted to use his experiences to help others, with ambitions to become a counsellor.

Master Davison, who was sitting as a Recorder, said he accepted the defendant was in a state of mental distress aggravated by alcohol and cannabis consumption when the crime took place.

“The jury rejected your defence of self-defence and as I have already indicated I sentence you on the basis this was not a case of excessive use of force by someone who believed they were under attack,” the judge said.

Warnock lied to police about what happened and the offence was premeditated to a “significant degree” as he “deliberately” armed himself with two “highly dangerous weapons”, the judge concluded.

“You have shown no remorse for what you did,” Master Davison said. “You seem to have a marked tendency to minimise your offending and try to excuse or exculpate yourself.

“This offence is a prime example of that.”

The judge added: “It seems to me that you need to take responsibility for your own actions.”

Warnock was jailed for three years having been found guilty of unlawful wounding.

The defendant was acquitted at an earlier trial of two counts of false imprisonment, two counts of making a threat to kill and one charge of wounding with intent.