A man having a mental health crisis told his ex-partner he had ricin before trying to go for her throat with a Stanley knife.
Stephen Ormerod, 56, left his victim, a woman in her 40s, with permanent muscle damage to her arm which she raised in defence as he went for her throat with a knife.
Niamh McGinty, prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, said that the pair had an on-off relationship but that the woman had finally decided that enough was enough.
On July 3, Ormerod sent the woman a text saying ‘we are done, you are better off without me’.
The woman replied that she would move her stuff out of the house and when she arrived at his home the next day, he had already packed up her belongings.
She went to her desk and worked from Ormerod’s home until about 5.30pm, when she got a text from Ormerod asking if they could talk.
Ms McGinty said: “He shouted at her saying there won't be a tomorrow, he told her he had ricin.
“She became concerned for his mental health at that point and didn’t know if he was going to kill himself or her.
“She called her sister and was on the phone when she felt the defendant grab her from behind on the neck.”
Ormerod then grabbed her hand and squeezed it so tight she thought it was going to break.
He had hold of her neck and threw her on the bed took her phone.
He then dropped his phone and she tried to grab it and call the police but he managed to get it back before launching another attack, kicking her before smashing her phone against the door frame.
Suddenly, the woman saw a bright orange Stanley knife.
Ms McGinty added: “He threatened to slit her throat. She put up her hands sating please don’t hurt me.
“He stabbed her to the head and then lashed out to her throat but she defended herself with her arm.
“She described the pain as excruciating.”
Ormerod then ran from the property and the woman, wrapping a scarf around her injured arm, crawled to a neighbour and an ambulance was called.
Ormerod was arrested in Barnsley four days later.
The woman had a 10cm laceration to her arm which required surgery to repair, however she now suffers from permanent muscle damage, but the attack has left her with significant psychological damage.
Ms McGinty added: “She said what she struggles to understand is how he could change from such a caring person to such an evil person in a split second.”
Mitigating, Anna Thomas said that Ormerod, of Beckenham Court, Burnley, had struggled with his mental health after his marriage fell apart.
She also said that he wants to access courses in prison to help him in future relationships.
Judge Guy Mathieson said: “You took that knife having threatened her life and said there would be dire consequences to her.
“I have no doubt the injury to her arm is a defensive injury.
“You were going for her throat.”
Ormerod was jailed for six years and made subject to a restraining order against the woman and her family until further notice.
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