Prison for teacher in 'ferocious' knife attack on woman

A teacher who brutally stabbed another teacher in Bath after failing to accept their on-off relationship was over has been jailed for 12 years.

- Rod Minchin

Matthew Jones, 29, stabbed Emma Kirk, 25, around 15 times with a knife, inflicting injuries to her neck, head and face.

Bristol Crown Court heard Jones attacked Miss Kirk because he would not accept she did not want to see him again.

The attack was so brutal and frenzied it took five men to drag Jones off his victim and even then he tried to strangle her, jurors were told.

Sam Jones, prosecuting, said the two met at university, becoming “really good friends” and later “romantically involved” by being “intimate on one or two occasions”.

The attack took place on Febru-ary 26 last year in Bath after Miss Kirk told Jones she did not wish to see him again but agreed to meet to return gifts he had bought her.

“The attack was sustained and repeated and involved him stabbing her in the neck, face and head,” Mr Jones said.

“While on the ground he stabbed her 15 times in a brutal and frenzied attack. Witnesses described him as a ‘man possessed.’ Both of her lungs were punctured. She tried to fight back and she suffered multiple wounds to her hands as she grabbed at the blade.

“But for the way she fought back and for the bravery of others she would have been killed.

“He stabbed her multiple times to the neck - one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body.