Prisoner responsible for “frenzied” attempted murder jailed for life

A prisoner on day release who attempted to murder a work colleague in what was described as a “brutal, frenzied and sustained” attack has been sentenced to life imprisonment. 

Nicholas Fryers was a serving prisoner at HMP Standford Hill, but working at the Sainsbury’s distribution centre in Dartford when he attacked the woman with a screwdriver in the car park of the centre in April 2023. She had been his buddy at the centre and helped to train new employees. 

They developed a friendship and he would regularly pick her up and drop her off at the local train station, in breach of his strict licence conditions. 

He told her that he wanted to be what he described as her “boyfriend on the side”, but she told him they were friends only. An argument started after she found out he had photos of her on his phone obtained without her knowledge and he launched himself at her. Following this, she decided to end the friendship and asked him to respect her decision. 

Fryers then demanded thousands of pounds from her for gifts he had bought her, but she refused and said she would contact the Parole Service about the breaches to his licence. Following this, he asked her to get some items from his car, as he planned to finish work early. Fryers then attacked her, pulling her to the ground and stabbing her multiple times. The court heard that the victim was saved from more serious injury by the thick outer clothing she was wearing. 

Manjit Bath from CPS South East said: “This was a terrifying attack that Fryers had planned, luring his victim to the car park before repeatedly stabbing her. She was exceptionally lucky to escape without serious injury and none of us can imagine the trauma she has been through as a result.

“There was no dispute in this case that Fryers had attacked his victim, but he claimed he did not intend to seriously injure or kill her, despite the fact that his attack lasted for almost two and a half minutes. 

“Thanks to expert evidence that Fryers had used a severe level of force in his attack, we were able to prove that he had attempted to murder his victim. 

“This was backed up by evidence from two witnesses, who tried to intervene and described the attack as 'sustained, brutal and frenzied'.”