Teacher who stabbed his ex-girlfriend 15 times after she rejected him is jailed for 12 years

A teacher who his ex-girlfriend in a "brutal and frenzied" attack after she rejected him has been jailed for 12 years.

Matthew Jones, 29, of Ivy Avenue, Southdown, Bath, attacked Emma Kirk, 25, after she told him they wouldn’t be anything more than friends. He insisted on meeting her in a lane off Dransfield Way in on Monday 26 February 2024, so she could hand back gifts that he had bought her.

But their meet turned violent and Emma suffered multiple and cuts to her neck, face, head, abdomen and hands. Surgeons told her family the knife had been millimetres from a key artery and it was “a miracle” she survived.

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In his initial interview, Matthew Jones denied deliberately stabbing Emma, and instead said he was acting in self-defence, and he could only assume she was injured during their struggle. Later, he entered a to an offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, accepting that he did deliberately stab her, not in self-defence, but intending to cause her serious harm. He continued to deny any intention to kill her.

In April 2025 he was found not guilty of attempted murder and possessing a knife by the jury following a trial. The sentencing hearing at on, Friday 9 May, was for the charge he had previously admitted: causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

In a harrowing personal statement read to the court Emma described the immediate physical impact of the attack in which she suffered more than 15 knife wounds to her head, neck and body, saying she thought she was going to die.

She has suffered irreparable nerve damage to her neck and hands, requires further treatment and is expected to lose feeling in a finger on one hand and a thumb on the other. As well as the permanent physical injuries, Emma is still suffering the after-effects of the attack on her emotional well-being.

She said: “I had to move back home with my parents so they could provide me with the physical and psychological support I needed. At a time when the word should have felt exciting to me, I felt stripped on my independence as a young professional woman, feeling too scared to leave my parents’ home for months.

“Having to return to court so many times and relive the traumatic experience has been incredibly difficult for me and has been a huge mental setback in my overall recovery. The physical and emotional pain I have endured has left a lasting impact on my life, and I continue to struggle with the trauma that was inflicted on me.”

Emma’s father John also provided an impact statement, in which he explained how he cared for Emma for weeks after the attack because "she needed the continual support and reassurance". He said: "For many weeks she was so frightened that she could not sleep alone and my wife had to sleep with her. She, and to an extent us, no longer felt safe in our own home."

He explained how the whole family are still in fear and how the last 15 months "has been totally dominated" by the horrific attack and its aftermath. He said: "The family has been to court on numerous occasions … and watch[ed] a video of her covered in blood saying she thought she was going to die and please tell her family that she loved us. None of us will ever forget what we saw and heard."

He thanked the brave members of the public who stepped in to help Emma, saying: “Words cannot express how incredibly grateful I am to those brave members of the public who intervened to save Emma’s life that day. I will never be able to thank them enough for their bravery.

“The after-effects of this attack will probably never completely go away. The main positive of course is that Emma is still with us. She has shown herself to be a brave and courageous woman, who is loved by many and who will with the support of her family and friends get through this.”

Sentencing, His Honour Judge Julian Lambert told Jones: “There was nothing in your past that could have predicted what happened next, which was a knife attack perpetrated with a ferocious determination to injure seriously, rarely seen before in the long experience of the court.

“You stabbed her, more than 15 times – in a brutal and frenzied attack. You were described as ‘a man possessed’. Public spirited citizens went to help. They disarmed and detained you as you were still wielding a knife, doing all you could to attack the victim, even when restrained by five others.”

HHJ Lambert described the consequences of the attack as “extremely grave and long lasting”. He said that sentencing needed to be adjusted for Jones’ “previous good character” and for “the exceptional effort you are making in respect of your rehabilitation in prison”.

HHJ Lambert said: “What you did was so unpredictable and so mercilessly fierce and persistent I’m afraid. I consider you will remain unpredictable for some very considerable time in spite of the good work you’re doing in prison. "

Jons was sentenced to an extended determinate sentence of 16 years, custodial term 12 years, and extended licence duration four years. He must serve two-thirds of the custodial term before his release is considered by a parole board.”