Savage Dudley knife attacker jailed for 10 years after repeatedly stabbing his ex-partner

A court order banning 56-year-old Ralph Foster from contacting Shanoya Watson - imposed after he punched her in the face while holding keys - ran out just months before the attack and she had started to trust him again, Stafford Crown Court heard.

Other motorists watched in horror as the Citroen C2 with Miss Watson at the wheel suddenly veered into the path of oncoming traffic before swerving back onto its own carriageway.

It careered into the kerb, bounced back into Dudley Road, Himley, and came to a standstill as the defendant launched an attack on the Russells Hall Hospital staff nurse with a kitchen knife. She later told paramedics: "He just flipped."

Screaming

Motorist Shaun Simms, who had been travelling behind the Citroen and stopped to see what was going on, told the jury: "I heard a lady screaming. She was shouting: 'Save me, save me, he’s trying to kill me.'

"I saw a man leaning over the woman in the car. He was holding a knife and stabbing.

"I saw the knife going down at least three times. She was screaming for her life. I couldn’t see where he was aiming."

Mr Simms took a metal bar from his car to protect himself and the woman under attack. He opened the passenger door of the Citroen and tried to reason with the defendant, who ignored him.

But the intervention distracted Foster long enough for Miss Watson to grab the knife and hurl it out of the open driver’s door window.

As she was helped from the Citroen by Mr Simms, 55-year-old Foster leapt into the driver’s seat and sped away down Dudley Road on July 16.

Around 300 yards later he deliberately swerved onto the other side of the road and crashed head-on into a Nissan Juke whose driver later said: "I thought it was a terrorist attack and I was going to be killed."

Stitches

Both cars were badly damaged and the defendant, who has two sons by different mothers, handed the ignition key to another motorist before being arrested.

Miss Watson - who admitted keeping a knife under her bed for protection - had two deep cuts to her scalp that needed 19 stitches and a further ten stitches were required in her left hand which was injured during her struggle to grab the knife. She also suffered less serious wounds to her eyebrow, ear, cheek and forearm.

Each claimed the other drew the knife in the car and Foster insisted Miss Watson lost control of the Citroen during an argument, forcing him to grab the wheel to prevent a crash with oncoming traffic.

His barrister, Mr Will Rose, said a cut to the back of the defendant's right leg could only have been caused if she had the knife first because of their positions in the car.

He told the jury: "Then, in the heat of the moment, he did a terrible thing. He lashed out and caused serious harm. If he had wanted to kill her he could have but none of the injuries were life threatening."

Jailed

The couple had parted two years earlier after a ten-year relationship and two days before the bust up Miss Watson had rejected a request from Foster - who faced eviction - to live at her home, the court heard.

The defendant, from Bayswater Road, Dudley, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

He was acquitted of attempted murder but found guilty of aggravated vehicle taking.

He was jailed for ten years three months and banned from driving for seven years.

Judge Michael Chambers QC told him: “Your relationship ended in 2015. You assaulted her in February 2016 punching in the face with keys in your hand. A restraining order was made but that then expired. She trusted you again.

The judge ordered that Mr Simms should get a High Sheriff Award for his bravery.