Controlling boyfriend, 45, who stabbed £5.5m Lotto winner in the face & left her to die to spend longer behind bars
A VIOLENT boyfriend who stabbed his partner seven times in the face after she won the Lottery will spend longer behind bars.
Emma Brown, 50, scooped £5.5million in 2017 but controlling Stephen Gibbs, 45, resented the life-changing sum of money.
Instead of taking up her offer to travel the world, he became annoyed at Emma being "more in control of her own life".
Gibbs also became convinced she was cheating on him and fitted a tracker on her Mercedes to keep tabs on her.
When Emma told him she wanted to end their 12-year relationship, raging Gibbs grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against a wall.
He then grabbed a nine-inch kitchen knife and stabbed terrified Emma in the face seven times.
Gibbs was caged in December for 13 years with a further five on licence after he pleaded guilty to attempted murder on the first day of his trial.
His jail term has now been increased to 20 years and seven months with an extended licence period of five years by the Court of Appeal.
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Attorney General Suella Braverman QC argued the original sentence was "unduly lenient" due to the "serious physical and psychological" harm caused to the victim.
In her ruling, Lady Justice Nicola Davies said: "This was a sustained and terrifying attack upon a defenceless victim in her own home.
"The offender commenced the attack and having inflicted some injury, paused the attack to go to the kitchen and pick up a kitchen knife, return to the victim where she was lying on the ground and thereafter stabbed her seven times.
"She suffered a number of facial fractures and one of the stab wounds was close to her eye, the result of which left her with blurred vision, her eye-lid now droops, and she has numbness across her face.
"It's clear from her victim statement that however resilient and strong the victim is, she has suffered long-term emotional and physical consequences."
DESPERATE CRIES
After Gibbs was jailed, it was revealed he was previously sentenced to six years for stabbing a former partner's 11-year-old son six times with a kitchen knife.
Horrifying CCTV showed a silhouette of Gibbs as he repeatedly knifed his girlfriend while she told him: "Tell my mother I love her."
Gibbs then fled in Emma's car - leaving her dying on the patio of their luxury home in South Wales.
She was only saved when neighbours heard a faint cry of "help, help" coming from the property.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard how Emma suffered multiple lacerations to her face, a fractured arm, bruising to her body, has partially lost the sight in her right eye and only has very limited sensation in her face.
In a brave victim impact statement, she said: "We were together for 12 years, I never thought he was capable of doing something like this to me.
“I used to be the life and soul of the party but now I can’t face being in a group of people. But I am conflicted because I’m also scared of being alone.
“I’ve been left with a lazy eye which has affected my confidence - I don’t know if I will fully recover from what has happened.
“We were together for 12 years and were happy - I don’t hate him and I do have good memories of the time we had together which makes what happened all the more shocking.
“I feel pity for him more than anything else."
VIOLENT RAGE
The couple started their relationship in 2010 but the "dynamics changed" when Emma scooped the prize on the National Lottery.
She used some of her winnings to buy several properties in the area - including one she rented to an old school friend.
Gibbs convinced himself Emma was having an affair with the tenant and threatened to “cut his throat”.
On the night she was attacked, Emma had driven to her cleaner's house to drop off a birthday card but the thug accused her of visiting the tenant.
When she returned home, she told Gibbs she wanted him to leave after he confronted her but he launched into the brutal attack.
The brute dragged Emma outside and initially held the knife to his own throat before stabbing her from close-range seven times.
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a . from 10am to noon.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
After fleeing the scene, Gibbs later called a friend and told them: "I've done something stupid, I've stabbed Emma - I found out she'd been messing around, cheating on me - I lost it and stabbed her in the face."
He was later found in a layby with a blood-stained kitchen knife in the passenger seat.
Sentencing, Judge Richard Twomlow said: "Emma Brown's victim statement demonstrates the devastating effect this has had on her.
"She was in her home. You simply left her there and drove away.
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"Because of your previous convictions you do pose a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm."
