Bodycam footage released by Greater Manchester Police shows the moment officers tackled a knifeman on the grounds of Edgar Wood Academy in Rochdale. Both Douk Deng, a 21-year-old South Sudanese asylum seeker, was sentenced to two years in prison on 28 July after pleading guilty to possession of weapons and criminal damage.
Incident at Edgar Wood Academy
Police were called to the school in Middleton on 6 August last year after a staff member reported a suspicious individual. The school was empty due to summer holidays. Bodycam footage captures officers leaping from their vehicle and charging towards Deng, demanding he stop. A brief struggle ensues before officers bring him to the ground. They note he was carrying a hammer and a hatchet.
Deng was also found with a seven-inch kitchen knife and a jerry can containing half a litre of petrol. He had been spotted 'behaving oddly' in the street while heading towards the school, carrying a petrol can with a hammer attached to his belt.
Background and Motive
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Deng, who had applied for and been refused asylum on three separate occasions, wanted to 'create a scene for attention' to further his cause. He had grown 'increasingly frustrated' that immigration authorities were failing to assist his efforts to remain and work in the UK.
The previous day, he was seen acting oddly at another school, Holy Family RC and CE College in Rochdale, where he kicked and damaged its intercom. Builders working at Edgar Wood Academy alerted police after Deng completed a 'full circuit' around the school, mumbling and examining the building.
Defence Statement
Sara Haque, defending, stated: 'He maintains that his actions were not motivated by any desire to injure or harm any person. This was a bizarre and compulsive act lacking in any type of maturity at a time when he was in deep distress having left Sudan and his family in traumatic circumstances.'
Haque added: 'He wanted attention and he was in crisis but he was not motivated by hostility towards children, teachers or the wider public. There is no evidence that he threatened any individual.'
Immigration Context
The court heard that Deng, who has a wife and children, was housed in multiple occupancy accommodation (HMO) upon arrival in the UK. Haque said: 'He found himself in a foreign country with very limited English and unable to work because of his immigration status. He believed and felt no-one was listening to him and no-one was helping him.'
Psychiatric assessments found no significant mental health concerns. Judge Bernadette Baxter told Deng: 'I have no power to order the Home Office to do anything. But in my judgment, given your circumstances as a failed asylum seeker who has been in custody for the best part of a year, the Home Office should be doing something rather than nothing to deal with your status in this country.'
Police Response
Chief Superintendent Helen Caldbeck, District Commander for Rochdale, said: 'I'm incredibly proud of the officers' response to this incident. They were professional and brave in tackling a suspicious man armed with weapons and immediately confronted Deng, to keep the public safe.'
Deng was informed he must serve up to half his sentence behind bars, with the remainder on licence. The sentence reflects the seriousness of possessing weapons on school premises, even when deserted.
