Drinker fired crossbow bolt into chest of victim causing horrific injuries
AMAN fascinated by “grisly weapons” fired a crossbow into a man’s chest from close range, causing a catalogue of horrific internal injuries.
Adam Calland fired the powerful weapon at his victim at a gathering in his flat after drinking homebrew and becoming argumentative and aggressive.
The bolt went through the victim’s lung, liver, kidney and spleen, leaving him in a coma and fighting for his life.
He subsequently needed his gall bladder removed and underwent a liver transplant, and has been left needing dialysis three times a week in hospital.
Swansea Crown Court heard former computer programmer Calland had previously been jailed for firing a crossbow at his partner’s head and threatening to dump her body in the sea.
A judge said the defendant should be regarded as a dangerous offender, and an extended sentence was needed to protect the public.
Robin Rouch, prosecuting, said on the afternoon of September 17 last year Calland met a group of people in Station Road in Port Talbot town centre, and after chatting to them invited them back to his flat.
Among that group was the man he would go on to shoot, Blue Davies. The court heard the defendant had made a quantity of homebrew, and as the afternoon and early evening progressed everyone in the bedsit, near Aberavon seafront, became intoxicated.
The prosecutor said due to the amount of alcohol that had been consumed accounts of what happened next varied, but it seemed Calland became argumentative and aggressive and began pointing a loaded crossbow at Mr Davies as he lay on the bed in the room.
At some stage someone threw a chair at 51–year-old Calland to try to get him to calm down, and later – for reasons which are not known – the defendant fired the crossbow at his victim from close range. Another party-goer then grabbed Calland and threw him against the wall and disarmed him,
The court heard the crossbow bolt was left sticking out of Mr Davies’ chest, with the diamond-shaped head of the bolt protruding from his lower back.
The emergency services were called and the 32-year-old was found to have no pulse and was rushed in a critical condition to the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff.
Calland was arrested at the flat and police recovered a total of four crossbows along with a machete and two knives from the property. After being taken to hospital to have a head wound treated, the defendant was interviewed and claimed he had been acting in selfdefence after being assaulted when his guests refused to leave his flat.
Meanwhile, Mr Davies was being treated for life-threatening injuries – the bolt had gone through his kidney, liver and lung and had cut his spleen. His gall bladder had to be removed, he needed a number of blood transfusions, and he was subsequently transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for a liver transplant.
The court heard he now needs dialysis three times a week in hospital.
In his victim impact statement, Mr Davies said he had been in a coma for a week after the attack and his family had been told to “hope for the best” but to expect him not to pull through.
He said he used to be a sociable person but he “would never be the same”.
Calland, of Victoria Road, Sandfields, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
He has previous convictions for assaulting a police officer, malicious communications – threatening to stab a partner – and harassment, an offence which saw him threatening to throw acid over this victim.
In 2021 he was jailed for witness intimidation after threatening his own brother into not giving evidence against him at an upcoming trial.
In 2018 he was jailed for assault occasioning actual bodily harm after kicking his partner in the groin, sticking his fingers down her throat while holding her nose, threatening to kill her and dump her body in the sea, and firing a crossbow at her head – a shot which “brushed her hair” with the bolt embedding itself in the door behind her.
David Purnell, for Calland, said after studying computers at university in Huddersfield, the defendant had spent a decade working in IT in the health sector in Sheffield. He said when his client’s marriage broke down he moved first to Plymouth and then to Wales and worked in a series of menial jobs.
The barrister said while being held on remand in prison Calland had been a mentor helping other inmates with English and maths, and had been teaching computer skills.
Judge Paul Thomas KC said it was clear Calland had a “fascination with grisly weapons”. With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea, Calland was given a 15-and-a-half-year extended sentence, comprising 10 and a half years in custody followed by an extended licence period of five years.
The defendant must serve two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence before he can apply for release but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be released. He was also made the subject of an indefinite restraining order banning him from contacting his victim.
The defendant had originally been charged with attempted murder, and a formal not-guilty verdict was entered to that charge.