A man repeatedly tried to murder his long-term partner when he stabbed her, tried to smoother her face with a pillow and forced her to take an overdose of paracetamol.
Clint Thompson was in the grip of a mental breakdown when he first slashed at his own throat before stabbing his partner of 30 years in the chest, Teesside Crown Court heard.
When the 49-year-old failed to kill her with the knife he covered her face with a pillow to try and smoother the life out of her.
Thompson carried out the repeated attempts to murder his partner over a 16-hour period at their Hartlepool home.
Paul Rooney, prosecuting, said the woman was eventually able to escape when her tormentor took an overdose of tablets and passed out.
Detailing the horrific details of the repeated attacks, Mr Rooney said: “He stabbed her with a large knife to her chest.
“He continued to try and stab her. He kept saying she needed to die. Fearing for her life, she started to fight back.
“She didn’t give up, she was fearful that he was going to kill her, so she grabbed the knife again and managed to get it out of his hands.”
He said Thompson was constantly saying that ‘she needed to die’ but she told him she was ‘never going to stop fighting’.
The court heard how Thompson then grabbed her by the neck and strangled her into unconsciousness.
The defendant then forced the woman to drink a glass of water filled with paracetamol.
He said: “She had taken so many that she passed out. She woke up vomiting and the defendant said ‘well that didn’t work, that was a waste of four hours’.
“He again tried to put the pillow over her face and smoother her.”
Mr Rooney said the defendant took a number of medications before falling to the floor enabling her to eventually escape.
In a victim impact statement, the woman described her home like a ‘murder scene’ when she eventually returned after being released from hospital.
She said: “No one will ever understand what we both went through that day. I felt so sure I was going to die. Clint was so calm that day like it wasn't even him."
The judge heard that one psychiatrist believed Thompson was suffering from a severe depressive episode at the time of the attack.
The defendant, who had a history of depression, had stopped taking his medication at the time.
Thompson, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and false imprisonment following the brutal attacks on April 23 this year.
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Stephen Constantine, mitigating, said his client was of previous good character and there was no history of violence in their 30-year relationship.
Judge Francis Laird KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, sentenced Thompson to 15-years in custody with an extended licence of a further five years.
“You tried several times to kill her through several different methods,” he said. “This took place over 16 hours or so.
“The effect upon on her has been very significant as she says in her victim impact statement.”
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