A former senior crown prosecutor who was jailed for trying to murder his wife by stabbing her and beating her with an ornamental cat has been found dead.
Iain Farrimond, 57, disappeared from his home in Worcester on Friday. Today, West Mercia Police confirmed his body had been found at Gullet Quarry in the Malvern Hills yesterday.
His death is not being treated as suspicious.
Detective Ollie Moore said: ‘Following formal identification and the next of kin informed, I can confirm that the body Iain Farrimond was recovered from Gullet Quarry last night.
Iain Farrimond, 57, disappeared from his home in Worcester on Friday. Today, West Mercia Police confirmed his body had been found at Gullet Quarry in the Malvern Hills yesterday
‘Iain went missing on Friday March 20 and following an exhaustive search by rescue teams we have sadly recovered his body. His death is not being considered suspicious.
‘Our thoughts are with his family at this terribly sad time and I would like to thank everyone who shared our appeals.’
Mr Farrimond was released from prison after being jailed for six years for stabbing his wife in the head with a kitchen knife and battering her with a wooden ornamental cat.
A court heard how he was in the grip of a work-related depression when he attacked wife Tina before turning the knife on himself in a botched murder-suicide bid.
He admitted attempted murder and was jailed for six years at Nottingham Crown Court in September 2016.
Following the case, wife Tina stood by her husband of 28 years after he attacked her ‘in desperation’ at his situation the day before their wedding anniversary.
Jurors were told how the highly-respected solicitor, who had enjoyed an ‘impeccable’ career up until that point, believed his wife would not cope if he killed himself.
In the early hours of May 26, 2016, Mr Farrimond stabbed Tina in the head as she slept at their marital home in Battenhall, Worcester.
Having failed to kill her he then beat her with a wooden ornamental cat – only stopping the assault when she pleaded with him.
Mr Farrimond then attempted to take his own life in the garden of the property after calling 999 and later told paramedics treating him: ‘What have I done?’
During an eight-minute call to the emergency operator, he said ‘I can’t go on’, explaining how he had stabbed his wife ‘really badly’ but ‘just couldn’t do it’.
The court was told that the call-taker could hear Farrimond’s wife crying in the background.
Mr Farrimond, who also penned a suicide note at the scene, later told officers: ‘I thought today was going to be the day of death. I couldn’t get that right.’
After being taken to Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, he told doctors: ‘I tried to kill my wife, I tried to kill myself. I was going to kill us all.’
The court was told the motive for the attack ‘had been his increasing feeling that he couldn’t cope at work and was worried he’d have to leave his job..’
Sentencing at the time, Judge Gregory Dickinson, described it as a sad case, committed while the attacker was ‘in the grip of severe depressive illness’.
He added: ‘But for the effects of your illness, you don’t have a violent bone in your body’.
Mr Dickinson said that since 1993 Farrimond had ‘worked hard in an important and demanding role, for the benefit of the public’ with the CPS, before depression took hold.
The judge told him: ‘Your intention was to kill your wife, and commit suicide. Forgive me, but thank God you failed.’
Farrimond, had been employed with the Birmingham CPS for about 23 years, latterly as a senior crown prosecutor.
Prosecuting Bill Emlyn Jones said: ‘He enjoyed a good career and was well regarded but had more recently been suffering stress at work.’
Incredibly, Tina recovered from her injuries including five stab wounds and a fractured eye-socket and remained supportive of her ‘loving and devoted’ husband.
In a statement from his wife, which was read to the court, Tina said Mr Farrimond had been ‘the perfect husband’ and was ‘the most loving, caring person I know’.
She added: ‘I love him very much. I want him to receive the medical treatment he needs.
‘All I want is for us to be a family again.
‘Iain needs to get better and I will help with this in any way I can.
‘I just want my husband to come home.’