Woman stabbed 70 times in violent Dartford assault sees attacker jailed for life

A woman who suffered more than 70 stab wounds during a violent assault in Dartford has seen her attacker jailed.

Nicholas Fryers

Nicholas Fryers denied the attack but was found guilty by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday 17 November 2023 and on Monday 22 July 2024 he was sentenced to life imprisonment and must serve a minimum of 17 years and four months before being eligible for parole.

On the evening of the incident, 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 how he had been working at the site for around two months and had become obsessed with another employee, buying her gifts and bombarding her with text messages, causing her to become concerned about his behaviour.

On the evening of Sunday 9 April 2023, the victim had told the 57-year-old that she no longer wanted to have a friendship. Fryers later told her he was about to leave the site and she should collect her belongings from his car.

As the pair walked to his vehicle, he started to attack her with a screwdriver, stabbing the 24-year-old woman multiple times in her head, chest and back.

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

Fryers then got into his vehicle and fled the car park. The victim was able to run from the scene and obtain first aid before being taken to hospital.

Before he drove out of the car park, one of the men who attempted to intervene was able to remove his car registration plate. Officers were notified of the incident and were able to trace this registration number as the vehicle left Kent. Fryers was identified as travelling towards Preston in Lancashire, where he was arrested at around 3.15am on Monday 10 April. He was later charged in connection with the incident.

Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Ross Gurden said:

‘This was a terrifying incident in which Fryers launched a vicious attack on a young woman who was alone with him in a car park.

‘He completely lost control and attempted to inflict as much injury to the victim as he could.

‘It is with only sheer luck that the victim did not lose her life on the night of this incident. He denied the offences and put her through the ordeal of a trial, forcing her to relive the horrendous details.

‘He is a dangerous individual, and today he has quite rightly been handed a lengthy sentence.’