Nine years in prison for Kirton man who left ex-girlfriend with life-changing injuries following '˜utterly frenzied' attack

Joshua King’s frenzied attack on the 22-year-old woman caused life-changing injuries to his victim who has been left with permanent scars all over her body.

Lincoln Crown Court was told that King inflicted 17 separate knife injuries to the complainant after she met him in the street near to his home in the village of Kirton in February of this year.

Judge John Pini QC, passing sentence, told King: “This was an utterly frenzied, sustained, determined and vicious attack with a knife that has left this young woman with life-changing injuries.

“She will be forever permanently scarred all over her body because you simply would not accept that the relationship was over.”

Grace Hale, prosecuting, said the pair began a relationship in June 2015 but then split up. They got back together in the autumn of 2017 but the complainant ended the liaison shortly before she was attacked.

“He asked if they could meet for one last time. She drove to his house and parked at the bottom of his road,” she said. “He came over and repeatedly said he loved her and wanted her back. She did not want a reconciliation and asked him to leave.”

Mrs Hale said that King asked for a further five minutes with the woman but as she went to get back into her car he attacked her.

“He stabbed her repeatedly to her legs and arms,” she said. “He tried to stab her in the head but she put her hands up to protect herself.

“She was screaming. She said he was very angry and looked as if he wanted to kill her.”

The attack ended when King ran off. The complainant managed to get to King’s family home where his mother and sister helped stem the flow of blood from her injuries and called for an ambulance.

She later underwent a hospital operation and now walks with a limp.

She had knife wounds to both legs and both arms and to her stomach and head. Some of the wounds penetrated muscles causing damage to nerves.

The court was told she has been left with no feeling to her right foot and toes and now wears a supportive boot.

King, 23, of Cleymond Chase, Kirton, admitted charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of a bladed article as a result of the incident on February 4 this year. He was jailed for nine years and given a life-time restraining order banning him from contacting his former partner.

Alison Summers, in mitigation, said that King has mental health problems and has previously received in-patient treatment for acute anxiety.

“He did well at school and went to college but that was interrupted by his acute anxiety,” she said. “That led to him drinking as a means of managing and coping with that anxiety.

“When he drinks he does things he otherwise would not contemplate.”

Miss Summers said that King has sought help for his drink problem and for his mental health problems.

She added that his guilty plea showed he was remorseful for what he did.