Girl 'played dead' to escape teen attacker who stabbed her in neck over row with his girlfriend

A teenage boy has been jailed for leaving a 16-year-old girl paralysed when he stabbed her in a row after his girlfriend found out they had secretly dated.

Alex Tye, 17, stabbed the girl seven times in the back of the neck after his partner broke up with him when she discovered their relationship.

He attacked her in a park near her home in the village of Benhall, Suffolk, at around 2am on 2 October.

He was sentenced to detention for life with a minimum of 12-and-a-half years at Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday.

The court heard the victim survived by “pure chance” and the life-changing injuries mean she has very limited movement below the stab wounds.

She is in rehabilitation to try to get back as much movement as possible.

The court heard she only survived by pretending to be dead after the attack and did not scream until Tye had driven away from the scene.

She lay unable to move until she was found by a dog walker around four hours later and emergency services were called.

Tye had taken her phone away when he left the park.

In a video statement recorded for the court, the girl said: “Often what happened does not feel real. Sometimes it feels like I am in a movie.

“Sometimes it feels like a camera will fall out of the sky and I will be in a reality TV show.

“I was so scared. I did not want him to win. If I had died he would have won.”

In a separate statement read out on her behalf, the teenager told the court she will never be able to go into her attic bedroom again.

She said: “I want to know why he did it. I think it must be my fault but I cannot figure out what I did wrong… I will never beat my dad in a running race again. I will never play cricket again on the beach.”

The judge lifted reported restrictions on the incident to allow reporters to name Tye due to the serious nature of the crime.

Tye and the victim had worked together and had secretly dated despite Tye being in a relationship with another girl.

After his girlfriend found out Tye was still in contact with the victim, she broke up with him days before the attack.

She had suspected there was something romantic between the pair but Tye had told his ex-girlfriend the victim was “meaningless” to him.

The court heard that Tye had messaged his ex-girlfriend saying “I would kill to get you back” after the pair split up.

He messaged the victim and arranged to meet her at night in a park near her home.

The court heard that the victim had jokingly asked Tye “you are not going to stab and kill me?” when she received the unexpected invitation to meet him.

The pair chatted on a bench for more than an hour and kissed before Tye attacked her as they were leaving the park.

He had researched which parts of the body are the worst to be stabbed and how long it takes someone to die of a stab wound, several weeks before the incident, the court heard.

The teenager pleaded guilty at Ipswich Crown Court in January. He also admitted possession of a bladed article.

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