Man jailed for 'horrific' attempted murder of pregnant fiancée

A man has been jailed after brutally assaulting his pregnant fiancée.

Petar Petrov, 31, a Bulgarian national living in north London, was sentenced to 21 years after pleading guilty for the attempted murder of a 30-year-old woman.

The woman, who was eight months pregnant at the time, was attacked at her home in August last year.

She was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, which included facial fractures, severe bruising of the lungs and a stab wound to the face.

Her wounds were so severe that in order to save the child's life, doctors performed an emergency caesarean section.

The baby was born prematurely but with no physical injuries.

Police said the mother remains in a persistent vegetative state with virtually no chance of recovery, and the child is likely to never know his parents.

Detective Inspector Christopher Skelt, of Enfield Police Community Safety Unit, said: "The severity of the sentence handed to Petrov today reflects the seriousness of this offence.

"This has been a truly shocking case. It is incomprehensible to think that a father-to-be could carry out such a violent and horrific attack on his partner when she was eight months pregnant with their baby."

"Petrov has never revealed the motive behind his shocking attack. Cases like this lead me to re-iterate to anyone who is either in or knows a person in a relationship suffering abuse, to report it to police."