Daniel White has secured the attempted murder conviction of David Richards, who received an overall sentence of 31 years imprisonment.
The jury unanimously convicted Mr Richards of attempting to murder his former partner, “JL”, in May of 2024 after a five month, tumultuous relationship. Upon arriving at her flat, he locked them both inside and after an hour making demands of her, he used a kitchen knife that had been secreted into his jacket to repeatedly “hack” at her body and neck.
Fortunately, she had the good sense to have a friend on a live phone call whilst Richards was inside her flat. Upon hearing the violence, the friend called the police who arrived within a few minutes.
Hearing they were at the door, Richards told her that if he couldn’t have her, no-one could. He held her up so that she could see herself in her full-length mirror, then attempted to slit her throat. Although this blow missed, he managed to stab her in the neck and stomach. She then managed to grab the blade of the knife and snap it off at the handle; causing a deep laceration to her hand. Not content with this, Richards, a former army PT instructor who was trained in armed and unarmed combat, choked her using a headlock until she blacked out. His last words to her were whispered in her ear, “I told you that I’d kill you”.
Richards tried to escape from the flat by jumping from the first-floor window. He was chased by an officer, pava sprayed and struck with a police issue baton. This had no effect upon Richards, who managed to disarm the officer and strike him to the top of the head with the baton – an offence of ABH which he admitted the week before trial.
In the minutes that followed Richards was eventually detained after being shot with a police taser.
In finding David Richards dangerous and passing a 27 year sentence, with four year extended licence, HHJ Gosling said,
“The attack on JL was ferocious and utterly brutal. As with partners you have had before, you sought to bully, intimidate and control her. In the chilling words you uttered before you repeatedly stabbed her, intending to kill her, if you couldn’t have her, nobody was going to. She was fortunate indeed to survive that attack. You did not need a knife to achieve your ends. You are a large, powerful man, professionally trained in combat. You used a knife only to ensure that she should not survive. As the jury decided, and as was abundantly clear from the evidence, you intended to end her life.”