Office workers stepped in as 'obsessed' man stabbed his ex at her workplace in Whiteley, court hears

Anwar Ashraf, 38, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court charged with the attempted murder of Carla Skeites at 3600 Parkway in Whiteley, at about 9am on April 30 last year.

Giles Bedloe, prosecuting, told the jury that Ashraf had admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of a knife, but he denied that he wanted to kill her.

The prosecutor said: “He was caught red-handed, he was restrained in the lobby of the office building and then was detained by other members of the public.”

Mr Bedloe said that the defendant and Ms Skeites had not been in a relationship for several weeks but he added that Ashraf had become “obsessed” with her and accused her of “cheating” on him.

He said: “Mr Ashraf was obsessed with Ms Skeites, he had been ringing her off the hook and bombarding her with messages.”

Mr Bedloe said that on the morning of the attack Ms Skeites was preparing for a training presentation at the travel agency where she worked when she received a message that Ashraf was outside the building and had asked to see her.

The prosecutor said that Ms Skeites went to meet him and after a “brief conversation, she told him to leave her along and go away” before “randomly he hugged her”, and then followed her back into the lobby.

He added: “She was telling him he needed to leave. Suddenly he said: ‘I have a knife’ and showed her a black-handled kitchen knife.”

Mr Bedloe said that the victim later described the attack saying: “Before I knew it, he was stabbing me.”

He continued: “She asked him to stop but he didn’t, then this frenzied attack stopped as soon as it started as other people came to help.”

The prosecutor that the defendant was restrained by members of the public with one man kicking his legs to knock him over before blocking his exit.

He said that this man described seeing “blood spurting out of her”, while the defendant had blood on his hands.

Mr Bedloe also said that a colleague screamed when she saw Ms Skeites, and said: “She was hysterical seeing her boss in that state.”

Another worker attempted to administer first aid and described the “terrified look” on Ms Skeites’ face. Mr Bedloe added: “Carla Skeites was rushed to hospital as she sustained multiple injuries as a result of this frenzied attack including 17 individual stab wounds.”

He said that as Ashraf was detained by police he said: “What would you do if your partner cheated on you, how would you react?”

Mr Bedloe said: “He admitted what he had done, he said he only wanted to scare her, he didn’t want to kill her.”

Ashraf, previously of Southsea, denies the charge and the trial continues.