ENGLAND – A man has been banned from carrying scissors in public after he sneaked up on two unsuspecting women and cut their hair.
Darren Dixon, 48, of Gore Crescent, Salford, was sentenced to a three-year community order at Manchester Crown Court.
He was also given a three-year anti-social behavior order which bans him from carrying scissors or hair cutting equipment in a public place.
His first victim, who was aged 19, was walking along Wilmslow Road, Fallowfield, at around 2.25pm on Monday, September 26 last year when she noticed Dixon was standing close to her.
She crossed the road and continued to walk and then quickened her pace when she realised Dixon was following her.
As she carried on walking at a fast pace, she felt her hair being touched and “heard a metallic sound hit the floor”, police said.
Turning around, she saw Dixon picking up a pair of scissors and clumps of her hair.
The second incident took place at around 9.45pm on Wednesday, October 26. The victim was shopping in Asda on Traders Avenue, Trafford, when she stopped to look at shampoo.
Detective Constable Lawrence Gallagher from Longsight CID said: “This was a bizarre case and Dixon has never shown any indication as to why he carried out these assaults and for what purpose.
“By carrying out these attacks, he has severely knocked the confidence of both victims. Even though he did not hurt them, it will take them a while for them to get over it.”
stalker dubbed ‘Mr Scissorhands’ after he secretly followed lone women so he could cut off their hair has been banned from carrying any cutting tools in public.
Unemployed technical surveyor Darren Dixon, 48, armed himself with a pair of scissors then crept up behind victims in the street to snip off their locks as they walked around unawares.
In one case father of four Dixon stalked university student Jessica Wright, 19, in Manchester before suddenly cutting her hair on a pavement in a busy suburb.
In another case, he trailed a woman around a supermarket before slicing her hair as she shopped.
In both incidents, Dixon who kept his scissors on a lanyard grabbed the chunks of severed hair and ran away with his scissors before his stunned victims realized what had happened.
But he was arrested after CCTV of him stalking Jessica was issued by Greater Manchester Police as part of an appeal to catch him.
Dixon, from Salford, who admitted two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm was ordered to abide by an ASBO banning him from carrying scissors or any cutting tools in public.
He was also ordered to complete a three-year community order with a condition he get counselling for his behaviour with a sex offenders group in Northumberland and pay each of the girls £500 in compensation.
Passing sentence Judge Martin Steiger QC told Dixon: ‘You are a middle-aged man with no previous convictions. Late last year you cut the hair of two women for some sort of sexual gratification. These offences caused very grave distress to the girls.
