Husband jailed for stabbing rival

Anthony Stephen was sentenced at Mold Crown Court

A jilted husband has been jailed indefinitely after trying to murder his estranged wife's partner by repeatedly stabbing him.

Gary Parry, a binman from Greenfield, Flintshire, was paralysed from the waist down when his spinal cord was cut in the attack by Anthony Stephen, 54.

At Mold Crown Court, Judge John Rogers QC told Stephen he posed a high risk in the breakdown of a relationship.

Stephen, also from Greenfield, had already admitted attempted murder.

He will not be able to apply for parole for six years, and would be detained until the Parole Board considered he was no longer a danger, said the judge.

Stephen and his estranged wife Karen had been married for 24 years and had two daughters before they separated at the end of 2005.

Mrs Stephen started a relationship with Mr Parry, who lived in the same road in Greenfield, the court heard.

Mr Parry believed that he was going to die Robert Trevor-Jones, prosecuting

Prosecutor Robert Trevor-Jones said that Stephen could not come to terms with the break-up of the marriage and the police had been called to previous incidents when it was alleged that he had brandished an axe and a handgun.

On 9 March, Mr Parry was at his mother's home which was near Stephen's home and he walked along the drive to go to the shed.

"He felt a thud to the back of his neck and he fell face down to the ground, and he felt a complete loss of sensation in his legs," the prosecutor said.

The court heard how Stephen told his victim he was going to make him suffer, like Mr Parry had made him suffer, and held him down with his foot on his chest, repeatedly stabbing him.

"Mr Parry believed that he was going to die," said Mr Trevor-Jones.

Karen Stephen ran out of the house, returned to call 999, but was pursued by the defendant who assaulted her in front of Mr Parry's elderly mother.

He shouted at her "you have ruined my life" then took her outside, held her over Mr Parry and said "This is a very nice man, so nice that he would go with another man's wife. Now you phone the police and ambulance".

Physical pain

Stephen went straight to Holywell police station after the attack and waited for police to arrest him.

The knife, with an 8.5 in (21.5 cm) blade, was recovered from his vehicle.

The injuries to Mr Parry were described to the court as "devastating". As well as his paralysis, Mr Parry had lost bladder, bowel and sexual feeling, and the physical pain he was in was likely to worsen.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Parry told how he was devastated, angry and depressed, had undergone painful surgery, more operations would be required, and he feared for the future.

Mark Le Brocq, defending, said that the defendant had realised the enormity of what he had done and now wished to publicly apologise to Mr Parry, his family and his own family.

The judge told Stephen he had made a pre-meditated attempt to murder his estranged wife's new partner.

"Fortunately, he did not die," he said. "However, he received catastrophic injuries which have resulted in him being paralysed from the waist down for life."