TWO women who bludgeoned a Blackburn man with a meat cleaver and left him for dead have been jailed for life and 26 years respectively.

Rhea Parker, 23, and Joanne McNally, 41, had gone to Philip Preece’s home in Whalley New Road to obtain money to buy the drug spice, Preston Crown Court was told.

And when Mr Preece refused and told them to leave, he was subjected to a sustained assault, which left him with 14 head wounds and fighting for his life, the court heard.

Today the victim says he has trouble sleeping because of the traumatic attack and he is undergoing plastic surgery to restore some feeling to his fingers, which were maimed as he tried to defend himself.

His daughter, Kelly Shaw, now his carer, said it “broke her heart” when her father told her, shortly after regaining consciousness, that they “should have let him die”.

She insisted the incident had left him a “shadow of a man” who was afraid to be left alone.

Parker, of no fixed address, and McNally, of Whalley New Road, were found guilty of attempted murder after a trial last month.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Rhea Parker

Andrew Scott, prosecuting, said Parker had also pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to then-partner, Michael Barclay, after he allegedly groped her last April. Parker stabbed him with a broken wine bottle.

She had also previously tried to rob the mobile phones of two girls, aged 12 and 14, as they were on their way to school, before some builders intervened.

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Trial judge Graham Knowles QC recommended Parker should serve a minimum of 13 years and 259 days before being considered for parole.

Peter Warne, defending Parker, said she maintained her innocence over the attempted murder but knew the seriousness of her position.

She suffered from mental health problems, he added, which could be treated with medication and therapy.

Mr Warne said the offence was a “spontaneous act” rather than a pre-meditated effort.

John Jones QC, defending McNally, said she did not have the same record for violence as Parker, save for one 2009 robbery conviction.

He claimed her position may have been affected by the “explosive” and “uncontrollable” actions of her co-defendant, when Mr Preece denied them money.

Sgt Darren Irving, of East CID, said: “This was a sustained and brutal assault on a man in his own home which left him with significant injuries and serious long term physical and psychological harm and the sentences reflect the gravity of the offending.”