Man Who Hacked Cop's Head with Machete Cleared of Attempted Murder
Despite a suspect’s brutal machete attack being caught on film, the man was cleared of attempted murder after nearly hacking a cop to death.
Muhammad Rodwan was filmed attacking U.K. Metropolitan Police Officer Stuart Outten after a traffic stop in August, according to the Independent.
The 56-year-old Rodwan, who was found guilty of a separate machete attack before the August incident, left Outten in rough shape. The officer was found to have multiple gashes on his head, cuts on his arms and broken fingers.
Although one Taser shot failed to stop the attacker, a followup quickly subdued Rodwan.
Rodwan told a court that the brutal attack was started by the police officers.
He accused the officers of being rude and injuring him in the struggle, and characterized his bloody machete rampage as a matter of self-defense.
On Jan. 23, Rodwan learned his fate. A jury found him guilty of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
An “arrogant, remorseless” machete attacker who left a police officer with skull fractures and deep gashes to the head has been sentenced to 16 years in prison https://t.co/ig8i4g1DkI
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 24, 2020
Shockingly, however, Rodwan was cleared of attempted murder and offensive weapon charges.
One reason the jury might have landed on this verdict is a lack of information.
Although Rodwan previously was convicted of a machete attack, those deciding his fate were not told of this. The jury also was not informed of a previous rape conviction as well as a drug citation Rodwan had received.
Outten may have miraculously survived, but his attacker appears to have dodged true justice for his crimes.
Watch the harrowing video below to see the attack play out.
The grisly attack underscores the failure of knife control in the United Kingdom and the near-impossibility of disarming people of dangerous instruments.
Although the machete was a tool used by Rodwan in his gardening job, the frenzied man was able to almost take the life of a police officer with it.
Outten will have scars from the harrowing attack for the rest of his life, but thankfully he survived to tell the tale himself.
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