A jealous bus driver warned his love rival he was a ‘dead man walking’ before burying a meat cleaver in the back of his head during a savage revenge attack.
Anthony Thompson, 28, was furious after discovering that victim Cameron Sharp was Nicola Crossley’s new boyfriend and helping care for his four-year-old son.
Mr Thompson wrongly believed his child had been ‘poorly treated’ by Mr Sharp and lay in wait for him outside Miss Crossley in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, on September 2 on 6.30am.
Anthony Thompson (left), 28, was furious after discovering that victim Cameron Sharp was Nicola Crossley’s (right) new boyfriend and helping care for his four year son
As his victim emerged, he screamed at him: ‘I am going to kill you, you’re a f****** dead man.’
Thompson then chased and cornered Mr Sharp, before furiously stabbing him and slashing him around the head with the head with the six inch blade and embedding it in his skull.
Mr Sharp suffered a fractured skull in the assault but managed to lever out the weapon himself from his head and miraculously survived his ordeal.
Thompson, from Farnworth, near Bolton admitted attempted murder and was jailed for life, at at Manchester Crown Court, on Tuesday.
He will have to serve a minimum of 10 years jail before he can be considered for parole.
In a statement Mr Sharp revealed how he was still haunted by the attack and can remember the sound of the cleaver being lodged in his skull.
Thompson was furious that Miss Crossley had replaced him with Mr Sharp and wrongly believed he had mistreated their young son
He said: ‘Part of the problem is that Anthony has never got over losing Nicola. On the build up to this attack I have had numerous threats to kill stating that I am a dead man walking.
‘I never imagined the actions that he took upon himself. We have had nothing but trouble from Anthony but we have stayed strong.
‘I felt lucky to be alive, I thought I was going to die. I still remember the sound of the meat cleaver when it hit my skull and the feeling of having to pull it out. I tried my best to defend myself.
‘I continue to have flash backs from the incident and have had several panic attacks since the attack.’
I felt lucky to be alive, I thought I was going to die. I still remember the sound of the meat cleaver when it hit my skull and the feeling of having to pull it out
The court heard how Thompson had been in ‘turbulent and violent’ four-year relationship with 30-year old Miss Crossley during which the couple had a son before they broke up in 2016.
She began dating Mr Sharp but Thompson became obsessed over their relationship and began sending threatening messages. He was banned from contacting the couple but last July was ordered to face a trial for harassment.
In the run up the case, Thompson threatened Mr Sharp during an access visit then on the day of hearing itself confronted the victim outside the courthouse saying: ‘How dare you come here. You’re a dead man. You had better watch your back.’
He then lunged at Mr Sharp, headbutting him and biting his ear before security guards managed to restrain him. On another occasion he confronted Mr Sharp as he got off a tram and made a throat slitting motion with his finger.’
Prosecuting, Andrew MacIntosh said: ‘On the day of the attack, Cameron had been staying with Nicola and about 6am left her address to go to his parents’ house. He was walking towards Radcliffe when he heard a car behind him.
‘He continued to walk down the road and became aware of the hazard lights flashing at him and saw the defendant running towards him shouting: ”I am going to kill you, you are f****** dead man” and carrying a meat cleaver in his hand.
Before Thompson attacked his victim he screamed: ‘I am going to kill you, you’re a f****** dead ma.’
‘Cameron describes being chased and the defendant grabbed his left arm and by the throat pulling him against the railings and trying to hit him. He was hit about three of four times.
‘He could feel blood running down his face and managed to break free, shouting for help from passers by. He ran across the junction, pursued by the defendant and was struck with what he called the ”last blow.”
‘As a result, the meat cleaver became embedded in his head. He describes having to pull that cleaver out of his head before collapsing to the floor. The last he saw of the defendant was him running back towards Nicola’s house. He managed to phone Nicola and told her to get out of the house.
‘The victim was taken to hospital and had several wounds to his hip and to his head. He had wounds to the back of his skull and significant injury to the back of his neck as well as obtaining fractures to the skull.
‘He still suffers numbness to his head and has been told that if there is no improvement within three months that will be permanent. He still suffers from severe headaches from where the fractures occurred.’
The prosecutor added: ‘Following the attack, Mr Thompson fled the scene and ended up at his sister’s house. He told her he had hurt him and tired to persuade her to take him away but he was later arrested.
‘He stated he had gone to Nicola’s house to see where Cameron was and had taken the cleaver with him because he believed Cameron could turn violent. He admitted there was an altercation between the two of them but he had not intended to kill him.’
Thompson was jailed for life after admitting attempted murder at Manchester Crown Court
Thompson told police: ‘I am sorry, I hope he is okay.’
The court head the attacker – who has a new girlfriend – had previous convictions for assaulting Miss Crossley.
In mitigation his lawyer Amos Waldman said: ‘This attack was wholly disproportionate but these were exceptional events. The defendant had received information that his young son had been poorly treated by the complainant.
‘Having heard this he became frustrated and concerned about the care of his young son. It was on the basis of that information that he attended his ex-partner’s address and says when he saw the complainant he lost control of his emotions and launched the attack. This defendant is extremely remorseful.’
But Judge David Stockdale QC told Thompson. ‘The circumstances of this incident are disturbing in the extreme. Cameron was setting off on foot in the direction of his parent’s house and you were waiting for him followed in the car. You then got out of the car and confronted him with the meat cleaver. He was unarmed and defenceless.
‘This was a premeditated attack on a public street with a deadly weapon. It was a sustained attack and you pursued him and struck him many times even when he was on the ground.
‘His injuries were very serious and he sustained five or six deep wounds. The pictures of his head wounds are extremely shocking. It is a matter of pure chance that Cameron Sharp was not killed and it is a matter of chance that he did not suffer a permanent catastrophic brain injury.
‘You left him with the meat cleaver still embedded in his head and he had to lever it out. This was not an isolated incident. Your behaviour towards Nicola was obsessive and dangerous and you have a number of previous convictions against her.
‘You are in my view, a particularly dangerous man, having attacked an innocent man to the head. It is implicit that when you attacked him you intended to kill him. You made your intention clear in the words you uttered when you attacked him and his appalling injuries speak for themselves.
‘You may have been concerned about the treatment of your son but it was absolutely not a matter for you to use as a vigilante attack. It was a wholly disproportionate attack on Cameron Sharp and that attack is scarcely proportionate to the provocation you say you suffered.’
Thompson was also made subject to a restraining order preventing him from contacting Nicola Crossley and Cameron Sharp indefinitely.