Llandudno: Nightclub stab attack survivor leads campaign

A man who was brutally stabbed in an unprovoked attack in a nightclub is leading an anti-knife campaign in north Wales.

Jake Pickstock was slashed twice across his head and throat while out with friends at a club in Llandudno, Conwy.

He says he died twice before doctors saved his life in the early hours of 21 August, 2021.  

The 25-year-old was out celebrating becoming self-employed when the 19-year-old knifeman approached him. 

Mr Pickstock grew up in Penmaenmawr, Conwy, but now lives in Llandudno where he runs his own business making boat covers, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He had handed in his resignation on the day of the attack and was celebrating becoming self-employed.

He arrived at the club with his friends just after midnight and says the atmosphere was good.

"My friend went to the toilet after a couple of drinks. Another chap has come over. I don't really remember too much. That's where the fear aspect kicked in, the adrenaline," Mr Pickstock said.

"The other chap came over, and it happened very quickly. We didn't know each other. I didn't know who he was until three days later when it was released in the Daily Post. 

"I remember lying on the floor, the warm blood. I remember standing up after (being stabbed). I don't remember dropping (to the floor). I opened my eyes again, and there were probably 60 people around me in a circle," he said.

Mr Pickstock said he didn't realise he had been stabbed until he woke up in hospital a day later. 

"I was hurt pretty bad. I pretty much died twice. I was losing consciousness, and then I got to hospital and had a fit. I had 62 stitches."  

"I was cut from the top of my scalp right down. My ear was hanging off. Right down across the throat. Two slashes."  

He does not remember the incident, but has vague memories of what happened after it.

The attack significantly affected his family and the entire local community, he said.

"The impact stems from just one person, the victim, to my mum, my dad, my nain (grandmother) before she passed away - she was too scared to go out of the house. It was a massive thing in the local area," he said. 

"It's not just my family. It affects the local community. The staff in the club, they saw it. Some didn't come back to work. The door staff were traumatised. They had held someone dying in their arms for an hour before the ambulance arrived. 

"It was a split second. It has changed me quite a lot. I'm very vigilant. I don't want to go out of the house. It has taken a lot of counselling to get back to where I am today, to be standing here and talking about it," he said.

He said running a business with staff working for him was quite difficult, but "achievable".

"Working on things, bit by bit, things get better. I've got a good team around me," Mr Pickstock said.

Mr Pickstock is now launching Operation Pickstock with Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders.

The anti-knife campaign is backed by Llandudno Pub Watch scheme, Conwy council and North Wales Police. 

As part of the campaign, Llandudno pub door staff will be given metal-detecting equipment by North Wales Police in a bid to catch potential offenders. 

Posters will also warn young people of the dangers of knives on buses, train, and taxis.

The posters will be prominent at railway stations in north Wales, and Transport for Wales has agreed for amnesty bins to be placed at stations to help keep knives off the streets.

Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders said: "I think of the impact on Jake's life and his family and also the young man himself (the offender); his life has been ruined by this," she said.

"The message we are trying to get out with Operation Pickstock is no matter how tempting it is to carry a knife, you mustn't because you are putting yourself in a very dangerous position. Lives not knives is the campaign message."