A man was arrested on a charge of attempted murder after stabbing his teenage stepdaughter for ending a sexual relationship that lasted for many years, according to police in the United Kingdom.
Now, 43-year-old Tony Comerford of Birmingham, has been sentenced to serve 30 years in prison after being convicted of rape and attempted murder.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a property in Kitts Green, where they found the 16-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, lying on the road with multiple stab wounds.
The victim was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she was treated for her injuries. She then disclosed to a family member that she got into an argument with Comerford, who had then stabbed her.
Later, the victim revealed that Comerford had also been sexually abusing her since she was seven years old.
The next day, Comerford was arrested and he pleaded guilty to attempted murder, and later to some sexual assaults, supply of a controlled drug class B and producing a controlled drug of class B.
He did not admit the rape allegations. Comerford faced an eight day trial and was found guilty of rape and sexual assault allegations spanning over a number of years.
During the trial, one of the jurors was released as she was emotionally overwhelmed by the nature of the case and could not continue.
“As the victim grew older, she began to refuse his advances, which resulted in the two of them having an argument. This culminated in the defendant stabbing the victim a number of times with three different knives. The victim survived this horrific attack and later informed the police of what Comerford had done to her,โ the court was told.
