Model battered by ex with axe after kissing Towie star
THE founder of a male stripper troupe repeatedly hit his former girlfriend over the head with an axe after he saw her kissing a reality TV star, a court heard.
David Richards, 41, attacked former model Alex Alam at her home after seeing The Only Way Is Essex star Kirk Norcross leave the property.
Miss Alam made a desperate FaceTime call to Mr Norcross, 34, begging him to rescue her two children during the assault.
She needed more than 100 stitches for ‘life-changing’ injuries after the attack in April, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
Richards, who founded stripping business Dreamboys before selling it for £1million in 2019, was in a nine-year relationship with Miss Alam and built a house with stables in both of their names.
But the ex-boxer was abusive to her and she repeatedly reported him to police for alleged coercive control before throwing him out of the house, the court heard. Miss Alam got a non-molestation order against him after making a claim of assault.
After being questioned by police, Richards waited outside the house in Stock, Essex, for five hours, before seeing Mr Norcross leave and giving Miss Alam a ‘kiss goodnight’.
Shortly after, he attacked Miss Alam, hitting her over the head repeatedly with an axe while shouting the Towie star’s name. He then tried to strangle her and continued hitting her. Miss Alam said: ‘Every time I was screaming or begging he was getting more angry.
‘I realised I was going to get hacked to pieces. I knew he was going to do me, and then he was going to do the kids.’
Richards tied up Miss Alam using cable ties and is said to have dragged her around by her hair. She managed to make up a story about why she had been with Mr Norcross and said she had evidence on her phone, the court heard.
Richards hunted for the phone and she managed to free herself, get a kitchen knife and lock him out. She hid in a bedroom and called the police then FaceTimed Mr Norcross.
Mr Norcross told the court Miss Alam ‘was covered in blood’ in the video call.
He added: ‘I had never seen anything like it. It was like I was seeing a horror movie. She said, “Kirk come back, I am dying. He has killed me”.’
She was in hospital for several days after. The jury heard Richards drove away at speeds of more than 90mph before police stopped and arrested him.
Prosecutor William Carter told the court Richards was ‘a man who intended to kill’.
Richards denied attempted murder or having an axe.
But a jury took just four hours to convict him last week. He had already admitted breaching the non-molestation order.
DC Jenny Clarke, of Chelmsford’s domestic abuse investigation team, told The Sun: ‘People like Richards are a danger to our communities and we will do everything we can to stop them.
‘The woman has been left feeling unsafe on her own up until this guilty verdict and should be commended for her bravery not only after the incident but throughout the investigation and giving vital evidence at court.’ Richards will be sentenced next month.
‘Come back, I am dying’