Man who stabbed ex-partner 17 times in ferocious office attack jailed for 26 years
A 39-year-old man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend 17 times at his workplace was sentenced to 26 years in prison.
Anwar Ashraf was found guilty following a trial at Winchester Crown Court following the attack using a kitchen knife on Carla Skeites at around 9am on 30 April 2025 at 3600 Parkway in Whiteley, Hampshire.
He had previously pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possessing a knife, but denied wanting to kill her.
The court heard the defendant, from Southsea, told police after the attack: “What would you do if your partner cheated on you? How would you react?”
Judge Paul Dugdale gave Ashra an extended prison sentence with a five-year license period and a life restraining order after he was released from custody.
He told her: “You carried out what can only be described as a horrific, brutal attack on him and it is the level of brutality that really concerns this court.”
He added: “It’s a miracle he’s survived, it’s unclear whether he’ll ever get back to his old self and whether the pain he endures every day will ever go away.”
Addressing Ashraf, who the court heard had a drinking problem and a mental health crisis, he added: “It’s all very well talking about alcohol abuse and addictions but we have to take responsibility for our actions.
“You knew the effects it could have on you, and the effects were devastating.”
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Skeites said she still had flashbacks and nightmares and was receiving counseling for anxiety.
He said he was in the hospital 10 days after the attack and didn’t know if he would survive emergency surgery.
Ms Skeites said: “Asking many wonderful paramedics the question: ‘Am I going to die?’ “And at that moment, the fact that I wasn’t told the answer you needed to hear, it was ‘We’re doing our best for you,’ and the fact that I might not have woken up from the surgery hit me.”
He continued: “I find that I can’t trust people and now I question whether they will hurt me too. Right now I wish I could run away from them all.”
Ms Skeites added: “I know I shouldn’t hate Ash for what he did, maybe I will over time, but right now I feel more sadness than hate.
“It makes me sad that he thinks his only option is to destroy his own life and almost take mine.”
Prosecutor Giles Bedloe told the hearing that Ashraf had become “obsessed” with Ms Skeites and accused her of “cheating”, even though the relationship had ended several months earlier and Ms Skeites was not in a new relationship.
Mr Bedloe said that on the morning of the attack, while preparing for a training presentation at the travel agency where Ms Skeites worked, he received a text saying Ashraf was outside the building and wanted to see her.
He had “bombarded” her with 49 phone calls before arriving at the facility and had “wandered in the shadows” while waiting to see Ms Skeites.
He said Ms. Skeites went to see him and “after a brief conversation, he told her to leave him alone,” then “casually hugged her,” and as she tried to get away from him, he followed her into the lobby.
He added: “He was telling her he had to go. Suddenly he said ‘I have a knife’ and showed her a black-handled kitchen knife.”
Mr Bedloe said the victim later described the attack: “Before I knew it he was stabbing me.”
The prosecutor said the defendant was restrained by members of the public when a man kicked his legs, knocking him over, before blocking his exit.
The court heard Ashraf had a habit of drinking a bottle of whiskey or vodka every day and traveled to India and Dubai to tackle his drinking problem.
Nick Tucker, defending, said father-of-two Ashraf had “struggled” and suffered from depression since being abused as a child.
He said: “This was a mental health crisis of some sort, he had slept very little in the week before the attack and his thoughts had become rigid and obsessive and although he had not been formally diagnosed with any mental illness, all the evidence points to him having some sort of mental health crisis.”
He added that Ashraf had expressed “remorse” for the pain Ms Skeites had suffered following the attack.
Simon Clark, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a sustained and violent attack carried out in a location where the victim should have felt safe. Anwar Ashraf attempted to downplay his actions by saying he only wanted to frighten the victim, but the nature and scale of this attack showed a clear intention to cause fatal harm.”
“Prosecutors refused to allow him to escape responsibility by pleading guilty to a lesser offense and ultimately secured a conviction for attempted murder. Today’s sentencing reiterates the CPS’s commitment to tackling violence against women and girls and we will continue to vigorously prosecute those responsible.”
