THE day after he was cleared of murdering Jordan Taylor, Trowbridge teenager Hayden Maslen has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for being in possession of a knife.

Maslen, 19, of Park Street, stabbed Mr Taylor with a knife he told the court he had bought for his own protection.

Mr Taylor died within an hour of the fight in March in which he was fatally wounded.

At Bristol Crown Court today Maslen’s barrister, Sally Howes, said: “It is a very dangerous and fatal cause of action, nobody is more aware of that than Mr Maslen.”

Sentencing him for possession of a bladed article, a charge Maslen had pleaded guilty to at the beginning of his 10-day trial, Judge Peter Blair QC said: “You got this knife when you were 17 years old, you have described it as a knife you thought ‘looked cool’.

Wiltshire Times:

  • The knife Hayden Maslen had. Picture: Wiltshire Police

“Get this into your head – knives are not cool. Any sensible person looking at this knife would describe it as evil.

“You weren’t only carrying it then, you had been keeping it in the messenger bag that you took everywhere.

“If you didn’t have this evil weapon, Jordan Taylor would be alive.”

He said that Maslen’s reasoning behind carrying the knife was “idiotic” and “warped”.

Judge Blair sentenced Maslen to 20 months’ imprisonment at a young offenders’ institute, saying: “This is the consequence of carrying knives.”

After the case, Detective Inspector Jim Taylor, who led the inquiry into Jordan Taylor's death, spoke outside the court, saying:

"Firstly, our thoughts remain with Jordan Taylor’s family at what is clearly a very distressing time for them.

Wiltshire Times:

  • Hayden Maslen in a picture taken some years ago

"We are here reinforcing our commitment to tackling knife crime.

"Anyone carrying a knife is committing an offence. It can have a very devastating effect.

"Wiltshire Police are working closely with the community to help young people understand the dangers of knife crime."

Hayden Maslen's knife is still in the possession of Wiltshire Police, who will decide whether to have it destroyed or whether to use it to educate young people on the dangers of knife crime.