A ‘TERMINATOR’ tube attacker who carried out a horrific machete attack on the London Underground has been jailed for life.
Ricky Morgan, 35, has been sentenced to life behind bars with a minimum term of 16 years after he launched an unprovoked attack the judge described as “every Tube traveller’s nightmare”.
Terrified passengers fled for their lives as Morgan swung the machete repeatedly at James Porritt, 41, on 9 July last year.
Porritt was on his way to work on the Jubilee Line when Morgan launched the attack between Green Park and Bond Street.
Panicked commuters fled through two carriages as Morgan slashed open Porritt’s head.
Morgan was heard telling horrified onlookers: “This is not a terror attack, I only want him.”
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Mr. Porritt, who suffered a severe injury to his hand, told jurors it was like a “horror movie” and the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi film Terminator.
The incident caught on graphic CCTV footage went on for 20 minutes before Morgan was confronted by police and dropped the machete.
Mr Porritt suffered a severe injury to his right hand as well as bone-deep cuts to his head and shin, and was given first aid by an off-duty doctor.
Morgan denied attempted murder on grounds of insanity but was found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey in May.
He was also convicted of possessing a machete and a lock knife.
Today Judge John Hillen jailed Morgan for life and said: “In the early evening of July 9 2021 in a crowded London Underground train carriage you tried to kill James Porritt, a man not known to you, by repeatedly slashing at him with the machete you had been carrying to use should the occasion arise.
“Having watched many times during the trial the ferocity of your attack captured by on-board CCTV images, James Porritt is very lucky to have survived.
“What happened will haunt him for the rest of his life. He thought he was going to die and never expected to escape from that attack alive.
“Many if not most of the people in the carriage, fearing you were about to slash people indiscriminately – and at least some of them fearing it was a terrorist attack – got up and started screaming and frantically trying to get away.
“It was a wonder that no one else suffered injury. I think it is not too sensationalist or overdramatic to say this was every traveller’s nightmare.”
Earlier, Mr Porritt became emotional as he described the devastating impact of the “horrific and undeserved” attack.
Speaking in court, he said: “It took less than 20 seconds on Friday, July 9 2021 for my entire world to be irrevocably and irreversibly damaged and altered.
“I was caught completely off guard and unaware. I had no idea what weapon Ricky Morgan was using to attack me.
“It was only after he continued to rain down on me with relentless and persistent strikes that I realised he had used a sharp object to cut my right dominant hand into several pieces.”
The victim described the “pure terror” of being chased by the would-be killer, adding: “I genuinely thought he was going to kill me. He left me for dead.”
Addressing Morgan in the dock, Mr Porritt said no sentence would give back the life the defendant took away from him: “I hope you realise that, I really do.
“How does someone ever start to come to terms with such a horrific and undeserved attack?”
Mr Porritt was given a letter from the defendant to read but said it “changed nothing”, adding: “My only hope and desire is that no one else ever has to go through what I went through.”
The court heard Morgan had a history of low-level violence dating back to the age of 13.
He had 26 previous convictions for 58 offences, including the more serious crime of discharging a sawn-off shotgun into a private house.
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In mitigation, Warwick Aleeson acknowledged Mr Porritt’s “deeply moving” statement and said the offences were likely to have come about as a result of Morgan’s “profound and serious undiagnosed schizophrenia”.
Morgan was born in Newham, east London, had a troubled upbringing and became homeless following his release from prison in 2020.
