Thug jailed after hypnosis helps lover recall beating
Attacker gets ten years for stabbing his ex in the neck
A THUG who launched a savage attack on his girlfriend has been jailed for ten years after she was hypnotised to remember the assault.
Mother-of-two Zoe Dronfield was left with horrific injuries and no memory of her ordeal after her ex-boyfriend stamped on her head and stabbed her in the neck.
She underwent a month of hypnotherapy sessions to recall the attack and gave evidence which helped to convict her former partner Jason Smith, 31.
Miss Dronfield, 38, suffered a cracked cheekbone and bleeding on the brain and feared she would die following the terrifying assault in her home.
She was stabbed in the neck, less than half an inch from her jugular vein, and was left with no memory of the attack until the hypnotherapy.
The businesswoman from Coventry told Warwick Crown Court that he launched an unprovoked attack on her while she slept and told how she woke up to find herself covered in blood. Semi-conscious, she saw Smith cutting his own wrists in an apparent suicide bid and begged him to call an ambulance because she feared she would die.
Miss Dronfield said: ‘The whole house was covered in blood. The bedroom was red and the bed was sodden. It was like a scene from a horror film.
‘The bath was filled with water and he was cleaning knives in the bath. There was an eight-inch knife and a meat cleaver.
‘I was dying and pleaded with Jason to call an ambulance and eventually he did. He was on the phone for 13 minutes and when the ambulance and police arrived I was unconscious.’ The pair had been in a year-long relationship after meeting via Facebook and Miss Dronfield said Smith had not been violent towards her before.
She said she broke off the rela- tionship after he became increasingly controlling, but agreed to meet in February last year while her children, aged nine and five, were away from home.
They spent the night talking and she went to bed after Smith fell asleep on the sofa, but woke in the gory aftermath of the attack.
A month after the assault she began treatment with cognitive behavioural hypnotherapist David Kilmurry. Miss Dronfield said: ‘I was able to give evidence in court against Jason all thanks to the hypnotherapy.’ Mr Kilmurry said Miss Dronfield was able to recall astonishing levels of detail after undergoing the therapy, during which she was regressed to the time of the attack.
‘Zoe has made an amazing recovery from devastating physical and psychological injuries, to go to court and give evidence,’ he said. ‘She has been incredibly brave.’
In December, Smith, a car salesman, from Coventry, was found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent. He was jailed on Tuesday.
‘Like a scene from a horror film’