Notorious Harrogate criminal and violent drug dealer William Boam jailed again months after stabbing man

William Boam, 23, from Harrogate, was driving a Citroen C3 which was stopped by police in Tadcaster in September 2021, York Crown Court heard.

They found six large plastic bags in the glove box containing over 27g of cannabis, along with two mobile phones and cash.

Boam was arrested and bailed, but in March 2022 the fire service was called out to his then home in Knaresborough after neighbours reported smoke coming from the property, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

“When (firefighters) attended they found no fire but found the defendant in his living room with large quantities of cannabis, so they called police,” she added.

Officers arrived and found Boam in the living room surrounded by drug packaging and sheets of “branded stickers”, some of which he had placed on dealer bags.

“Police found a further quantity of cannabis in tubs in the kitchen,” said Ms Morrison.

They found a total 256g of cannabis in the property, worth an estimated £785 if sold on the street.

The total amount of drugs seized from both the property and Boam’s vehicle was worth just under £1,000.

Boam was arrested again and, despite the huge amount of cannabis found at his home, told officers the drugs were for his own personal use.

Ms Morrison said that Boam appeared to be operating a one-man drug enterprise in which he packaged, distributed and sold the drugs on the street.

Boam had 13 previous convictions for 17 offences including drug supply in 2016, producing cannabis in 2017, arson and serious violence.

In March this year he was jailed for two years and seven months for wounding causing grievous bodily harm, assault, carrying a knife and breaching a suspended prison sentence.

That incident occurred in October 2022, when Boam was still at large following his arrest for the drug matters and subject to a two-month suspended sentence for assaulting an emergency worker.

The victim was at his friend’s flat in Harrogate when Boam rang the doorbell asking to be let in.

They refused but Boam threatened to kick the door, so they let him in.

He started shouting at the named victim who threw him out of the flat. and about 20 minutes later, the two friends went to get some beer from a supermarket in Harrogate and on their return, they bumped into Boam outside a homeless hostel in Bower Street where he was living at the time.

Boam punched and headbutted the victim’s friend and demanded his beer, then put his hand in his pocket “as if to indicate he was carrying a weapon”.

He then pulled a knife out and the victim’s friend ran away, chased by Boam.

The victim came to his friend’s aid but as he tried to intervene, Boam “lunged” at him and thrust the knife into his stomach.

He then “swung” the knife at him again and caught the victim on the arm, before running off.

The victim was taken to hospital where he had staples to close the stab wound to his stomach wall and three stitches to the wound on his upper arm.

Defence barrister Natalie Banks said that Boam had a “very difficult” upbringing and mental-health problems.

Recorder Dapinder Singh KC jailed Boam for a further 16 months for the drug offences – a reduced sentence for reasons of “totality” because the notorious criminal was already serving a sentence of nearly three years for serious violence.