Knife-carrying Grindr user from Leeds told police he intended to lure gay man and then stab him to death

In a case the judge at Leeds Crown Court described as “peculiar”, Jordan James was given a community order despite repeatedly saying would have gone through with the bloody murder, had officers not intervened.

Prosecutor Ella Embleton said 28-year-old James phoned 999 at around midday on March 25 and told the operator that he was armed with knives and was planning to kill a man he had met on the gay dating website.

He rang off, but then rang back and spoke to a different operator, reiterating his intentions. Police were able to trace the call to Canal Street in Bradford where they quickly arrested him.

They found two knives in his backpack that were 35cm and 20cm in length. Again he told officers he had them to commit murder.

Remanded into custody, he has spent the last eight months between prison and a mental hospital. James, of Robinwood Court, Roundhay, admitted making threats to kill and two counts of possession of a bladed article. He has no previous convictions.

A probation report suggested James “could not understand his behaviour at the time” and “wanted to harm someone because he was not feeling good about himself”.

He admitted he was a regular on Grindr and had used it for several months. No further mitigation was offered when the judge, Recorder Anthony Hawks, said he would not lock him up and instead gave him a two-year community order, with 20 rehabilitation days.

He said: “It’s a rather unusual case. On the face of it you are an unremarkable young man. For reasons that nobody has been able to get to the bottom of, you armed yourself with two knives and rang the police twice saying you were going to meet someone and kill them.

"You have got problems with depression and anxiety, but you are not thought to be a danger to the public, and it seems that you were not intending to carry out your threats. Nonetheless, it’s a serious matter. We are assuming this was a peculiar piece of one-off behaviour. If it is repeated, you will go to prison for a significant length of time.”