Man jailed for 24 years after ex-partner murder attempt that sparked manhunt

A man who repeatedly stabbed his ex-partner in a park then ran away, launching a four-day manhunt, has been jailed for 24 years.

Joanne Sidaway, 49, screamed as she was attacked in the chest by James McKenna, 58, in the bushes of Carmarthen Park in January.

McKenna previously pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, but found guilty of attempted murder in July.

On Friday, Judge Paul Thomas KC said the attack was "wholly calculated", and that McKenna had left his ex-partner to die in the bushes.

Swansea Crown Court heard he will spend two thirds of his sentence in prison, before being released on licence.

After hiding in a woodland near Carmarthen for three days without food or water, McKenna was arrested at Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, as he awaited medical treatment for suspected frostbite.

McKenna had waited for Sidaway to enter the park on 29 January with her dog, before crouching down in the bushes, ready to launch his attack.

A jury at Swansea Crown Court heard McKenna was "angry" after their relationship ended a few months earlier, and it was "luck" that she did not die, with her winter coat helping to save her.

During the trial, he told the jury he had put the newest, sharpest knife from his kitchen in his bag that morning, with the intention of using it to hurt Sidaway.

He said he wanted to cause Sidaway "serious harm" but not kill her.

"I felt she was reluctant to re-engage with me, and not even say hello," he said.

As she approached, he stabbed her multiple times, in what he agreed was "a rage of anger".

He told the court he was "shocked" at what he had done.

"I was aiming for her shoulder area and the upper body. I didn't want to kill her."

He said the attack was interrupted after Sidaway told him to stop and screamed, and a neighbour shouted.

Neighbour Susan Edwards told the court during the trial in July she heard "high-pitched screaming" and the "bushes shaking" before a man ran away.

Sidaway phoned for an ambulance and said: "I've been stabbed by my ex-partner... he's been stalking me".

McKenna fled the scene following the attack, and said he dumped his rucksack, with the knife, at an allotment near the park after he ate a yoghurt there.

He then walked to Bronwydd, a village about three miles (4km) north of Carmarthen, along the River Gwili.

"I found some shelter, a quiet woodland away from the road," he said.

"I was devastated and kept having flashbacks."

He said he was there for three nights, before he travelled via taxi and bus to a hospital in Aberystwyth.

Lucy Mansfield, of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "McKenna's actions were cold and calculated, deliberately taking a knife to a public place to attack his ex-partner.

"He committed a shocking act of violence, which must have been terrifying for the victim.

"We will continue to work with our partners in the criminal justice system to tackle these abhorrent offences."

Welsh Women's Aid Chief Executive Sara Kirkpatrick said this was a "carefully planned" attack.

"Sadly, post-separation abuse, stalking, following a domestically abusive relationship is remarkably common," she said.

"While we can ask ourselves how we make our spaces and places safer, this was an intentional act by an individual who made a plan and chose a place, and identified where his victim would be.

She added that was why the charity campaigned for social change, "so that we don't find ourselves in a place where individuals think that pursuing vengeance in this manner is an acceptable route".