Former Dreamboys boss who tried to kill wife outside her Essex home dies in prison

A former boss of the Dreamboys stripper group, who was jailed for launching a brutal axe attack on his wife, has died in prison.

David Richards, 42, was jailed for 27 years in January for attempting to murder his wife, 32-year-old Alex Alam, following the breakdown of their relationship.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for HMP Lowdham Grange, Nottinghamshire, said: “We can confirm that a prisoner died at HMP Lowdham Grange on March 13.

“The next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with the family. As with all deaths in custody, there will be an investigation by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and therefore we are unable to comment further at this stage.”

Richards lay in wait for hours with an axe, dry suit and cable ties to ambush Ms Alam when she stepped outside her home in Stock, Essex, with her dogs on April 3 2022.

He pounced on her in the darkness when she stepped outside her house with her dogs late at night, as her children slept inside.

She suffered a fractured skull and cuts to her face and scalp in the “bloodbath” that ensued, Judge David Turner KC told Chelmsford Crown Court.

Richards, who was found guilty of attempted murder at the trial, sobbed at the sentencing hearing as the judge told him the attack was “the hideous culmination of the breakdown some 18 months earlier of your family relationships”.

He was described in court as being “obsessive” and having a “jealous mindset”.

The judge added: “Your dream home, family and lifestyle to which you had aspired had very sadly unravelled and left you depressed, isolated and angry.”

In her victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Alam said: “I’ve been utterly betrayed beyond belief by the person I chose to have children with, turning my life upside down.

“The scars are a constant reminder of what he did to me.”

The judge praised Ms Alam for “courageously” attending the sentencing hearing, and she wept and was consoled by those who sat beside her in court as details were read out.

Richards became a director of the male striptease group Dreamboys in 2014, according to Companies House.

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