Zimbabwean man convicted of attempted murder after slashing social worker’s throat told to expect a very long prison sentence
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Zimbabwean man convicted of attempted murder after slashing social worker’s throat told to expect a very long prison sentence

A Zimbabwean man convicted of attempting to murder his estranged wife’s aunt in a Milton Keynes car park has been told to expect a ‘very long’ prison sentence.

Scene outside the Civic Offices as Police and SOC officers examine a car

Farai Kambarani, 26, was found guilty by a jury at Luton Crown Court of attempting to kill Ruth Nayamazana. He was convicted (Feb 23) by a majority of 10 to 2 after nearly five hours of deliberations.

During his trial the court heard he was upset after his wife Tadiwa and child moved from their home in Wolverhampton to live with her uncle and his social worker wife in Milton Keynes.

Judge Philip Bartle QC said he was adjourning sentence so Kambarani could be assessed by probation officers on whether he was considered dangerous.

But the Judge told him: “You have been convicted of a very serious offence indeed and the prison sentence I pass will be a very long one.”

The defendant was remanded in custody. He was also found guilty by unanimous verdicts of criminal damage and stalking his former partner.

The court had heard that the 34-year-old victim drove into the Saxon Gate car park, opposite Milton Keynes council offices, just after 8am on August 22 last year.

Kambarani shunted his car into the back of hers.

In the witness box she said Kambarani punched her in the head 10 or 20 times.

When she was on the ground, she said he pulled out a small knife with a silver blade and used it against the side of her throat. She added: “He moved the knife up and down. I was screaming. I thought he was going to cut my throat. The blood started gushing out.”

In his closing speech, the defendant’s barrister Sebastian Gardiner said: “It was a brutal attack and caused an unpleasant injury.

 

“He was slashing at her indiscriminately, but that does not mean he intended to kill her.”

His client had admitted wounding with intent, but denied he was guilty of the more serious charge of attempted murder.

The defendant had moved to the UK from Zimbabwe, in November 2014. His wife and child left him in Wolverhampton in June last year and moved into her uncle’s home in Milton Keynes.

Two months before the attack, Ruth Nyamazana said Kambarani had come to her home and was ‘furious and angry.’

She told the jury: “He said, ‘You have stopped me seeing my child. You don’t want me to see my child. Who do you think you are?’”

Mrs Nyamazana said he punched a glass panel on her front door and smashed it.

Farai Kambarani, of Ashfield Road, Wolverhampton, pleaded not guilty to attempting to murder Ruth Nyamazana.

He also denied damaging a glass panel in the front door at her home on June 27 last year.

In addition, he pleaded not guilty to stalking his wife Tadiwa between June 3 and August 23 last year, which included sending messages to her via WhatsApp and by accessing her Facebook accounts and trying to change the password.

He will be sentenced on March 21. – Milton Keynes.co.uk

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