Killer given life sentence for screwdriver stabbing

Nicholas Fryers must serve a minimum of 17 years and four months before being eligible for parole

A convicted murderer has been sentenced to life imprisonment after stabbing a woman more than 70 times with a screwdriver while on day release from prison, Kent Police said.

Nicholas Fryers, who denied the attack which happened in Dartford in April 2023, was found guilty of attempted murder by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court in November and was handed his sentence on Monday.

The 57-year-old was told he must serve a minimum of 17 years and four months before being eligible for parole.

Det Insp Ross Gurden said: "It is with only sheer luck that the victim did not lose her life on the night of this incident."

'Obsessed'

Kent Police said on the evening of the attack Fryers was working at a distribution centre in Littlebrook Manor Way as part of a day release, having previously been convicted of murder in Wales in 1993.

The court heard he had worked at the site for about two months and became "obsessed" with another employee, buying her gifts and "bombarding" her with text messages.

They developed a friendship and he would regularly pick her up and drop her off at the local train station, in breach of his strict licence conditions, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

"He told her that he wanted to be what he described as her 'boyfriend on the side', but she told him they were friends only. An argument started after she found out he had photos of her on his phone obtained without her knowledge and he launched himself at her," a CPS spokesperson said.

"Fryers then demanded thousands of pounds from her for gifts he had bought her, but she refused and said she would contact the Parole Service about the breaches to his licence."

On the day of the attack the victim told Fryers she no longer wanted a friendship.

He later informed her he was about to leave the site and she should collect her belongings from his car.

Kent Police said as the pair walked to his vehicle he started to attack her with a screwdriver, stabbing the 24-year-old woman in her head, chest, and back.

'Completely lost control'

As the incident was unfolding, two men who worked at the site entered the car park and tried to intervene.

Fryers then fled the car park in his vehicle and the victim ran from the scene before getting first aid and being taken to hospital.

The 57-year-old was later found travelling towards Preston in Lancashire, where he was arrested in the early hours of the next day.

Det Insp Gurden said: "He completely lost control and attempted to inflict as much injury to the victim as he could."