Overview

• Prosecutors told Preston Crown Court that CCTV shows John Cowen, 31, entering a Blackpool venue with a kitchen knife and stabbing Thomas Carey in the upper arm before being overpowered.
• Cowen has been ruled unfit to stand trial based on assessments by two psychiatrists and is in hospital, so a jury is conducting a finding-of-fact hearing rather than a conventional trial.
• He faces a charge of section 18 wounding with intent and two counts of possessing a bladed article over the September 14, 2024 incident at the Wainwright Club.
• Jurors were instructed that their task is to determine whether Cowen committed the act, not to consider intent, and that not guilty pleas have been entered on his behalf.
• Police recovered a second identical kitchen knife from Cowen during his arrest, and Carey’s arm wound was treated in hospital with steri-strips.