A KENDAL man has today (Friday) been jailed for 14 years for the attempted murder of his ex-wife.

David Shepherd, 34, stabbed Stephanie Shepherd approximately 27 times with two kitchen knives outside his home on High Sparrowmire on December 9 last year, in front of their two-year-old child.

He pleaded guilty to attempted murder at Carlisle Crown Court at an earlier hearing.

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“David Shepherd carried out an unprovoked and frenzied attack upon his ex-partner as she was dropping off their two year old child into his care, said Stuart Pattinson, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West.

"After she begged him to stop, he walked away only to return moments later with an even larger knife which he then used to continue his attack upon her.

“This was a very public attack on a residential street in broad daylight and in front of their two year old child.

“It was clear from the evidence that David Shepherd intended to kill her, which left him with no option but to plead guilty to the offence. 

“The victim genuinely believed she would die at his hands; she received horrific injuries to her body, neck and head and had to be airlifted to hospital where she went through nine hours of surgery to save her life.

“The long lasting effects of this attack cannot be underestimated, but I sincerely hope that following today’s sentence, the victim and her family can begin to move on with their lives.

“Whilst cases of this severity are rare in Cumbria, we would encourage all victims of physical and mental domestic abuse to seek help and report incidents to the police.  The CPS will seek to support victims in every way possible throughout the process.”