A convicted killer has been jailed for life after stabbing a co-worker more than 70 times with a screwdriver.
Nicholas Fryers, 57, became obsessed with the woman and carried out the violent assault after she told him she wanted to end their friendship, police said.
He met the victim while working at a distribution centre in Dartford, Kent, where he was on day release after being jailed for a murder in Wales in 1993.
Kent Police said he became obsessed with his 24-year-old colleague over two months while working at the site, buying her gifts and bombarding her with text messages.
On the evening of April 9 2023, the victim ended the friendship over concerns about his behaviour.
Fryers later told her he was about to leave the premises and that she should collect her belongings from his car.
As the pair walked to his vehicle, he started to attack her with a screwdriver, stabbing the woman multiple times in her head, chest and back.
Two men, who also worked at the site, entered the car park and tried to intervene to stop the assault before the attacker fled in his car.
One of these men was luckily able to remove Fryers car registration plate which police traced as he left Kent.
The victim ran from the scene and obtained first aid before being taken to hospital.
Fryers was identified as travelling towards Preston in Lancashire, where he was arrested at around 3.15am on April 10.
At Maidstone Crown Court on November 17, 2023 he was found guilty of attempted murder by a jury. He had denied the charge.
And today (July 22) he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He must serve a minimum of 17 years and four months before being eligible for parole.
Det Insp Ross Gurden, of Kent Police, said: "This was a terrifying incident in which Fryers launched a vicious attack on a young woman who was alone with him in a car park.
"He completely lost control and attempted to inflict as much injury to the victim as he could.
"It is with only sheer luck that the victim did not lose her life on the night of this incident.
"He denied the offences and put her through the ordeal of a trial, forcing her to relive the horrendous details.
"He is a dangerous individual, and today he has quite rightly been handed a lengthy sentence."
Fryers had previously served significant time in prison for killing his partner in Wales back in 1993 after he stabbed her with a dagger 23 times.
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