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AXE ATTACK

Mum axed in head by ex after he saw her kissing Towie’s Kirk Norcross FaceTimed the star to tell him ‘I am dying’

THE former boss of the Dreamboys strippers tried to kill his ex with an axe after he saw her kissing Towie’s Kirk Norcross.

Blood-soaked former model Alex Alam then FaceTimed the star on her iPad to tell him: “I am dying — he has killed me, he has done me.”

Alex Alam suffered three skull fractures and needed 100 stitches after her ex axed her in the head
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Alex Alam suffered three skull fractures and needed 100 stitches after her ex axed her in the head
David Richards, who set up the Dreamboys strip group, attacked Ms Alam with an axe
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David Richards, who set up the Dreamboys strip group, attacked Ms Alam with an axeCredit: Rex
Alam was attacked by her ex after he saw her kissing Towie’s Kirk Norcross, pictured
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Alam was attacked by her ex after he saw her kissing Towie’s Kirk Norcross, picturedCredit: Rex Features

Ms Alam, who suffered three skull fractures and needed 100 stitches, begged: “Please get my kids. He is going to finish us off.”

Kirk, who had kissed Ms Alam on her doorstep minutes earlier, raced back and found her children, aged seven and three, crying in the hall.

Ms Alam had been attacked by ex-boxer David Richards, who set up the Dreamboys and sold the business for £1million in 2019.

He put most of it into having a plush house with stables built for them in Stock, Essex, and put it in both their names.

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They had a nine-year relationship before long-suffering Ms Alam threw him out.

Chelmsford crown court heard she had suffered years of abuse and repeatedly reported him to police for alleged coercive behaviour. She finally made an assault claim and was granted a non-molestation order.

Richards, 41, was forced to live in a hotel.

The day after being quizzed over the alleged assault allegation, he waited outside the house for five hours.

He saw 34-year-old Kirk leave, kissing her as they said goodbye.

When she went outside to see her dogs, he smashed her repeatedly over the head with an axe.

Richards, who had mixed with Towie stars including Amy Childs, was shouting: “Kirk Norcross? Kirk Norcross — in my house?”

Reliving the moment Richards “stormed” up to her with the axe, Ms Alam said: “He said, ‘Shut up’, and then he f***ing hit me over the head straight away.

“I think he hit me twice, but I didn’t go down and he hit me again. I said, ‘David, don’t.’”

Ms Alam screamed as Richards tried to strangle her.

He pushed her to the ground while shouting: “Kirk Norcrosss, Kirk f***ing Norcross.”

She added: “I was telling him, ‘No, no, it’s not like that’, and he was telling me, ‘Shut the f**k up’.

“Every time I was screaming or begging he was getting more angry. I realised I was going to get hacked to pieces. I knew he was going to do me, and then he was going to do the kids.”

She said Richards bound her with cable ties and began dragging her around by the hair, accusing her of trying to ruin his life by going to police.

Quick-thinking Miss Alam made up a story that her father had made her do it — and that she had messages to prove it.

She said this had “saved her life” by giving her the chance to call for help while Richard looked for her phone.

She armed herself with a kitchen knife, hid in a bedroom and called Kirk and the police.

Kirk, who starred in Celebrity Big Brother in 2013, said in a statement he had visited Ms Alam at 6pm and fallen asleep with her on the sofa after her children had gone to bed.

He said he “gave her a goodnight kiss” as he left at around midnight and texted her a few minutes later to say he was home.

He then got the FaceTime call.

He recalled: “She was on the floor by her bed holding a kitchen knife.

“She was covered in blood. I had never seen anything like it. It was like I was seeing a horror movie. She said, ‘Kirk come back, I am dying. He has killed me.’

“I asked her what had happened and she said, ‘He has done me with an axe.’”

Richards fled and was chased by armed police before being arrested in Ipswich, the town where his mother lives.

He admitted telling one officer at the scene: “I have done the most stupid thing in my life.”

Prosecutor William Carter said Richards’ belief that she was in a relationship with Norcross had an “extreme effect on him”.

He added: “In my submission, this is a man who intended to kill.”

The court heard he had bought a Magnusson axe, cable ties and gloves in B&Q Basildon on March 21, then returned to the store two days later and bought the same items again. He also bought a mask and a black boiler suit.

He claimed he planned to disable Ms Alam’s horse box, but denied being “embittered”.

He added: “The Kirk Norcross thing, I was not bothered about at all.”

He denied trying to kill her or even ever having an axe.

And he claimed Ms Alam gave him permission to tie her up with cable ties.

Richards had admitted breaking the non-molestation order at an earlier hearing.

Read More on The Sun

He denied attempted murder but a jury took less than four hours to convict him after a week-long trial.

He will be sentenced next month.

Investigating officer, DC Jenny Clarke, said: “Everyone who has worked on this case has collected every scrap of evidence and testimony we could to convince the jury of Richards intent that night.

“He waited behind the woman’s house armed with a dangerous weapon, dressed in waterproof clothing and chose to attack her in the middle of the night when she was most vulnerable.

“He didn’t even care that young children were alone inside the house and could have found their mum the next morning.

“People like Richards are a danger to our communities and we will do everything we can to stop them.

READ MORE SUN STORIES

"The woman has been left feeling unsafe on her own up until this guilty verdict and should be commended for her bravery not only after the incident but throughout the investigation and giving vital evidence at court.

“We would also like to commend the support network of friends and family she had behind her throughout this incredibly difficult time.”

Richards pictured with former Towie star Amy Childs
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Richards pictured with former Towie star Amy Childs
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