Brighton man jailed for 20 years for stabbing girlfriend a hundred times

A man from Brighton has been jailed for 20 years for stabbing his girlfriend more than a hundred times.

Jamiv Usman, 32, of Meadowview, Brighton, brutally attacked Shanon Reynolds, who was 19 at the time, and left her for dead.

Usman carried out the frenzied attack after she refused to get him a drink of water at their home in Meadowview. A few days earlier she had asked him to move out.

The stabbing by unemployed Usman was seen by Miss Reynolds’s two-year-old son.

Miss Reynolds, now 21, suffered two punctured lungs and had 500 stitches to her wounds. Usman, using a knife with an 8in blade, stabbed her in the neck with such force that the tip of the blade snapped off.

Miraculously she survived by pretending to be dead. She escaped and staggered to a nearby empty bus. The driver alerted Sussex Police and drove her to the bus depot.

Officers boarded the bus and helped treat the life-threatening wound to her neck while they waited for paramedics to arrive.

Miss Reynolds, who was able to tell police what had happened, was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, with serious injuries and spent nine hours in an operating theatre having life-saving surgery.

A neighbour found her son in a distressed state but Usman had vanished. He was found the day after the attack – in March last year – in Coombe Road, Brighton, and arrested for attempted murder.

The knife that he used was found dumped in a hedge close to their home.

Usman denied the charge but was tried at Lewes Crown Court and, on Wednesday 20 July, found guilty of attempted murder. He was remanded in custody until his sentencing today (Friday 16 September) by Judge Guy Anthony.

Detective Inspector Andy Wolstenholme said: “This was an horrific unprovoked attack on the victim who had to fight for her life in front of her child who was just two. It is a miracle she survived.

“The last 16 months for her have been very difficult but she has been recovering slowly and has demonstrated great courage at the time of the attack as well giving evidence during the trial. She has been very supportive of our investigation. She is an inspiration.

“I also want to praise the bus driver for having the presence of mind to drive the victim away from the scene and to get her help.

“The sentence means Usman will be in prison for many years, preventing other victims suffering this level of violence at his hands.”

The Crown Prosecution Service also paid tribute to Miss Reynolds’s bravery. The CPS said: “The attack took place on (Friday) 27 March 2015 in the middle of the night, just a few days after she had asked him to leave.

“She managed to get down the stairs and get on a bus that took her away from the scene.”

Chief crown prosecutor for the south east Jaswant Narwal said: “This was a truly horrific and unexpected attack on a young woman in the middle of the night in her own home by her partner.

“Despite the appalling injuries she suffered, she was able to drag herself out of her home and board a bus, at which point the emergency services were alerted.

“Her presence of mind may well have saved her life as the attack on her was so ferocious.”