Man jailed for 27 years for attempted murder

A man has been jailed for 27 years after stabbing a woman six times in a horrific attack which left her with life-changing injuries.

Ashley Joyner, of Shortwood Road in Pucklechurch, Bristol, left his victim with partial hearing loss and in need of a wheelchair.

He was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday after being found guilty of the 39-year-old woman's attempted murder following a four-day trial.

In a victim impact statement read out to the court, she said: “What kind of a selfish, manipulating person is he. I cannot call him human or indeed an animal.”

The trial was told that on 11 September 2023, Avon and Somerset Police officers were called to Joyner’s address by the ambulance service.

After they arrived, the woman was taken to hospital and Joyner was arrested before being charged with attempted murder the next day.

In the woman's statement, which was read out in court on her behalf, she described how the attack had changed her life.

"Due to the incident, it is unlikely I will have full use of my right leg and now have partial hearing in my right ear," she said.

"I will never be able to work again and will have to use a wheelchair to get about.

"I do not know or understand why this has happened to me. I am now very fearful of men and will never trust a man again."

DC Mike Tarling said: "Joyner’s horrific and violent actions against the victim have had a lasting impact and has forever changed her life.

"She has displayed immense courage and bravery throughout this investigation and I commend her for how she has carried herself throughout, while recovering from these dreadful injuries inflicted upon her.

"Joyner poses a significant risk to the public and I am pleased that such a dangerous offender will be in prison for many years to come."

Joyner was also sentenced to eight months in prison, to run concurrently, for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The second charge related to a separate incident at a social club in Pucklechurch in July 2023, where Joyner had hit a man over the head with a bottle in an unprovoked attack.

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