Wales man held guilty of trying to kill Sikh dentist

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A Wales court has held a man guilty of attempt to murder for attacking a Sikh dentist with a machete at North Wales' Tesco Mold supermarket in January, a media report said on Friday.

Zack Davies, 26, of Chester Street in Mold, told the court that he never intended to kill Sarandev Bhambra, 24, when he launched his hammer and machete attack, Mirror online reported.

However, Mold Crown Court Judge Rhys Rowlands sent Davies to a high security hospital in Wales, where his psychiatric profile would be prepared, before he is sentenced.

"I hold the view he is an incredibly dangerous young man. If it is not going to be a hospital order, it will be the longest possible sentence," said the judge about Davies.

Newly-qualified dentist Bhandra walked into the supermarket at lunchtime on January 14 and found himself to be the victim of a horrifying attack which left him with severe head and back wounds and a machete slash which almost severed his left hand.

According to prosecutor Sion ap Mihangel, Davies harboured a hatred for his mother's boyfriend and the attack was actually intended at him.

To prepare for the attack, Davies packed a machete, a hammer and a knife into a rucksack.

When Davies failed to find his mother's boyfriend, he followed Bhambra to Tesco where he launched the attack from behind with a hammer blow to Bhambra's head, shouting "white power!".

He then pursued the bleeding Bhambra, who fell several times as Davies slashed his skull to the bone, and gashed his back with the machete and cut the nerves and tendons of his left hand as he tried to defend himself.

Davies said he selected Bhambra because of the colour of his skin and Asian appearance.

Just before he left his flat, Davies visited some extremely violent websites such as "Best Gore" and "All the Gore", his computer history showed.

Davies claimed in court that he was inspired by famous British Islamic State (IS) militant Mohammed Emwazi, also known as "Jihadi John", who has appeared in videos beheading foreign hostages, including British aid worker, David Haines.