A violent man who came ‘within a centimetre’ of kn

A violent man who came ‘within a centimetre’ of knifing his father-
in-law to death has been sent to a mental hospital without limit
of time.

Paul Fanthorpe, 26, lashed out at 56-year-old James Coughlan with
such force that the older man was lifted clear off the floor.

The only motive for the brutal stabbing was his obsession that Mr
Coughlan had been sheltering his estranged wife since she ended their
three year relationship a few days before.

Convinced that his father-in-law was lying, Fanthorpe knifed him in
the chest and neck, coming within a centimetre of severing his jugular
vein.

In December last year, he pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to
cause grievous bodily harm.

He had a string of previous convictions
for violence.

Since then intense psychiatric tests have shown that he remains a
danger to the public, the court was told.

Fanthorpe’s wife Debbie had announced on April 17 last year
that she wanted to end their marriage and wanted him out
of their home in Oatfield Road, Tadworth, Surrey.

On April 19, they met at her parents’ home in Coles Mead Road,
Redhill, Surrey, but failed to achieve a reconciliation.

Late on April 20, Fanthorpe returned to the Redhill house certain
that Mr Coughlan and his wife Linda, 55, were hiding their daughter
from him.

Mrs Coughlan, convinced that Fanthorpe was going to kill them both,
hid in a wardrobe while her husband faced up to his enraged son-in-
law.

Despite his earnest pleas that he did not know where Debbie was, he
was stabbed in the stomach by Fanthorpe.

Mr Coughlan grabbed an ornamental axe in a desperate attempt to
stave off further attacks but was repeatedly stabbed.

One chest wound was 12 centimetres deep.

A wound to his neck came
within a centimetre of the jugular vein.

When Fanthorpe was arrested, he claimed he had acted in self
defence but in court admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous
bodily harm.

The Recorder of London, Judge Lawrence Verney QC, told him: ‘I have
heard from a great many doctors and I am satisfied that you suffer from
mental illness but that you can be effectively treated.

‘
Making the hospital order, he added: ‘It is for the doctors to decide
when it is right for you to be released.

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ENDS
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