Jilted Leeds husband attacked wife with hammer before slitting her throat and wrists

During the “chilling” attack Kevin Miles shouted at his partner Alison: “If I can’t have you, no one can.”

Leeds Crown Court heard that Mrs Miles pleaded with her husband to think about their two children as he struck her repeatedly to the head with the hammer.

Miles then said to his wife “why aren’t you dead yet?” before using a Stanley knife to cut her wrists and throat.

The court heard Mrs Miles, 47, later recalled curling up on the sofa as she accepted that she was going to die.

Miles then used a knife to inflict similar horrendous injuries to himself.

Police rescued the pair when Mrs Miles’s new boyfriend went to her flat after becoming concerned when she had not replied to his text messages.

He was unable to get into the property as Miles had wedged a sofa between the door and the stairs.

Police had to remove a window frame in order to get in and found Mrs Miles bleeding heavily with severe injuries.

Miles, 48, of Moorland Drive, Pudsey, Leeds, was jailed for 14 years after pleading guilty to attempted murder.

Simon Waley, prosecuting, told the court Mrs Miles had suffered “disturbing and graphic” injuries which included permanent damage to tendons and nerves which have restricted the use of her hands.

The prosecutor said the couple had married in 1997 and had two boys, aged 16 and 17, but their relationship had begun to suffer and Mrs Miles began an affair with another man.

Miles found out in October last year and his wife moved out of the family home to her own flat in the Pudsey area in January. She was intend to set up home with her boyfriend.

Mr Waley said Mrs Miles and her husband had been trying to maintain an amicable relationship for the sake of the children.

The attack took place on January 22 after Mrs Miles agreed to allow her husband to visit her new home.

Miles took a hammer from the kitchen after he was asked to leave. The court he had taken the knife with him to the scene.

Mr Waley read a victim impact statement to the court on behalf of Mrs Miles.

She described how she was unlikely to ever be able to return to work as a psychological therapist because of the trauma she had suffered.

She said: “When you attacked me I was filled with the thought of the affects of my death on our boys.

“I accepted the inevitable and I waited to die. I knew death was near.

“I have complete recall of what you did to me - every blow to my head, every slice and hack to my wrists.

“If you had wanted me dead why could it not have been a pillow over my face?

“Sometimes I think it would have been easier if you had succeeded in killing me but I will move forward.”

Referring to the impact the attack may have had on their children, Mrs Miles said: “The message you are giving them is that it is OK to harm somebody if they do something that they do not like, although I am confident that they are not taking the message on board.”

Graham Parkin, mitigating, said Miles had also inflicted similar life-long injuries upon himself as though he had inflicted upon his wife.

Mr Parkin said Miles was sorry for what he had done. He said: “He is struggling to come to terms with the way he has behaved so violently.”

The court heard Miles planned to return to working for his family business when he completes his prison sentence.

Jailing Miles, The Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier, QC, said: “You were harbouring very deep and emotional feelings which exploded on that evening.

“When you uttered those chilling words ‘if I can’t have you, no one can’ you were expressing what you had been feeling for some time.

“You were prepared to rob your teenage sons of their mother.”

Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Bryar, of West Yorkshire Police Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said: “Kevin Miles clearly set out that night with the intention of murdering his ex-partner, the mother of their two children, and killing himself. It was only the actions of her new partner who became concerned and raised the alarm and the officers who forced entry to the flat and got both of them urgent medical attention that prevented their deaths.

“The victim has been left with serious life-changing injuries and we hope the successful conclusion of the case at court will help her and her family to continue to recover from this incredibly traumatic experience.”