Nottingham mum's teenage sons tried to get her knife-wielding ex off her in terrifying attack

A Nottingham mother-of-four “thought she was going to die” at the hands of her knife-wielding former partner as he pinned her to the bed. Nottingham Crown Court heard how the victim’s teenage sons tried to get Christopher McLeavey off their mother as he attacked her in her own bedroom.

The 40-year-old defendant, of Aspley, turned up at her address following a day arguing with his ex that she had allowed their daughter to have her ears pierced without his consent. And in a victim impact statement, the woman said she has no idea why the defendant brought a knife to the scene and behaved in the way he did as he had never acted violently before.

Jailing him for three years, Judge James Sampson said: “This was a terrifying incident for all concerned and the impact on the victim has been profound. She thought she was going to die, she now feels unsafe in her own home and she is scared of you.

“But she is not vindictive because she indicates this was out of character and she wants you to get the help she needs. You took a long, nasty, dangerous knife to her home address and there, you assaulted your former partner.

“There were children present and that is a highly-aggravating feature and not only were they present but they tried to get you off their mother and it was fortunate that the police arrived so quickly.”

Declan Austin, prosecuting, said McLeave and the victim had been in a relationship for 11 years but that ended in 2022. He said matters between them were amicable as he was able to see the two children they have together on a regular basis.

But on February 17, this year, he found out their daughter had her ears pierced without his knowledge and this angered him, the prosecutor said. Mr Austin said: “At around 1am on February 18, he asked to speak to her and came to her address.

“Her son was downstairs in the living room and so they went upstairs to have a conversation. She was on the bed and he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

“She laid down on the pillow and the defendant struck her to the ribs, climbed on top of her and pulled out a knife.”

The prosecutor said they struggled on the bed and she called out for help. He said her two teenage sons came into the room and tried to get him off by punching him and the police were called who turned up and arrested him. The victim suffered pain to her ribs and a small cut to her finger from the knife.

McLeavey, of Deepdene Close and who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding and possession of a bladed article in a public place. In her victim impact statement, the woman said: “To this day I am not sure why Christopher assaulted me in the way he did.

“Not once during our relationship did he subject me to any violence, we were amicable, we still went out together and there were no issues. The worst part was seeing the glisten of the knife he had in his hands.

“I had a genuine belief I was going to die while he was on top of me.” Dominic Shelley, mitigating, said his client has been in custody for eight months and has “a very supportive family who planned to keep a watchful eye over him” on his release.

He said: “The defendant can’t explain his actions that day. It was wholly out of character and he was in a dark place.” As well as the jail term, the judge handed the defendant a five-year restraining order.