Wife screamed 'help me' as she was stabbed 10 times outside parents' evening by husband who has been jailed | The Sun

A DOCTOR stabbed his wife more than ten times in the chest, neck and back outside their child's parents evening as she cried "help me".

Dr Ying Zhang attacked his estranged partner, Hannan Xiao, with a kitchen knife in "a state of cold fury" after their separation, a court heard.

The 55-year-old was stopped by Richard O'Brien, a nearby electrician, who managed to kick the abuser with his steel toe-capped boot.

Zhang and Hannan originally met in 2004 and married in 2006 before settling in Watford.

The defendant was working as a senior lecturer in Computer Studies at the University of West London while Hannan is a senior lecturer in cyber security and director of online studies at King's College London.

Their relationship had seen years of domestic abuse, and multiple threats to kill by Zhang, the court heard.

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But events came to a head when Hannan found the courage to ask for a divorce.

Four days before the attack, the defendant had rented a room in a guest house on the road where Hannan lived.

Zhang used it to stalk her behaviour and take photographs of her, the court heard.

Prosecutor Walton Hornsby told the Old Bailey jury that the defendant was in a "state of cold fury" with his wife for leaving him.

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He told the court: "He was not happy that she had made this request and asked her if she really wanted the divorce.

"She replied "Yes". He said she "should think about it… you are too quick.

"He texted her asking for forgiveness saying that he still wants the family and the children."

The scorned senior lecturer told Hannan she should move out of the family home and leave him with their children – a demand she refused.

On the night of their child's parents evening, in Barnet, Hannan did not invite her estranged husband and was unaware of his presence.

But, CCTV footage showed the armed attacker following the 52-year-old to her car and a confrontation ensued.

Mr Hornsby told the court: "When she left the school she returned to her car and found him behind her.

"He asked to get into the car saying that his was broken. She refused and said she was scared of him. She said he could get a train.

"She ran into the road. She remembers him running up to her and catching hold of her and then "he was just stabbing me".

"She asked him what he was doing and he didn't say anything. She turned away from him exposing her back in order to protect her chest and heart."

The next thing Hannan remembers is an old man trying to stop her from bleeding and a woman who said she worked at a hospital doing her best to help.

Richard O'Brien, who saved the victim's life, told the jury: "I had a feeling that I need to do something otherwise this lady was going to lose her life.

"She was struggling trying to defend herself flailing around and trying to stop him however she could.

"Once her handbag fell away the knife was revealed and Sven shouted 'he's got a knife' and went back to his car and moved away.

"Initially I decide to jolt my vehicle in their direction to try and distract the man, get him off, make him stop.

She ran into the road. She remembers him running up to her and catching hold of her and then "he was just stabbing me"."

"I didn't make contact, I pulled up six inches from their heads."

Mr O'Brien recalled Zhang stabbing her near the ribs in a sideways motion.

He described the attacker as being 100 per cent focused, with nothing around able to distract him.

"He was absolutely all out, using as much force as he could to try and get to her and hurt her as much as possible", Mr O'Brien told the court.

"He stabbed her between 15 and 20 times", he added.

"She was just fighting for her life."

In a heroic attempt to save the helpless woman, the electrician kicked Zhang in the right side of his face with steel toe-capped boots.

"I think it knocked him out. He went to the floor immediately and his body went limp", he continued.

The prosecutor explained: "She did receive life threatening injuries, and it was only emergency surgery that saved her life.

"She very nearly died, and it was Mr O'Brien's action that saved her life."

She was struggling trying to defend herself flailing around and trying to stop him however she could."

The prosecution argued a "toxic history" in Zhang and Hannan's marriage, and the "severity of the stabbing" made a case that the defendant had been trying to kill his wife.

This "toxic" history was revealed to the court, who heard the defendant accepted a caution for assault after a violent argument at their Hatfield home in 2005.

The following year, Zhang threatened to kill Hannan to force her into giving him her interest in the family home.

Hannan reported her husband had threatened to kill her with a knife in 2008 and again in 2012.

By 2020, the couple separated after an incident of battery when Zhang accused Hannan of cheating on him with somebody at work.

During the 2020 attack, the court heard Zhang told his wife: "I'll kill you one day."

In a bid for safety, Hannan was granted a non-molestation order in 2020 by Watford Family Court, but Zhang breached it multiple times.

Zhang, of Stonecross Road, Hatfield, was convicted of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article after a trial in February.

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Judge Rupert Mayo jailed Zhang for life and ordered he serve at least 22 years.

The judge had also commended Mr O'Brien and another witness, Sven Kupfer, who saved the victim by tackling Zhang.

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