Bride-to-be had throat cut by jilted ex-fiancee a day after she scrapped their 'Pretty Woman' wedding because of his obsessive jealousy

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A bride-to-be had her throat slit and was left for dead by her jilted ex-fiancee - the day after she called off their Pretty Woman-themed wedding.

Care worker Sandra Cheadle, 42, and Andrew Bailey had been planning to marry in a ceremony inspired by the Hollywood movie starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.

But when she broke off their engagement due to his obsessive jealousy, Bailey, also 42, staged a terrifying ambush in the street as Mrs Cheadle walked to work.

   

Survivor: Sandra Cheadle, left, was subjected to the vicious attack after she called off her engagement to Bailey, right

At Preston Crown Court, where Bailey was today jailed for 18 years for attempted murder, a jury heard how he armed himself with a kitchen knife and lay in wait for his ex-fiancee under a bridge.

He then subjected Mrs Cheadle to a frenzied attack as she tried to flee, and her life was saved only when three passing motorists saw a struggle between the pair and stopped to intervene.

One of the drivers rushed the victim to hospital, where she was treated for knife wounds to her chest, neck and arms and a collapsed lung. Despite serious injuries she has since recovered.

In the run-up to the attack, Bailey had made threats to stab Mrs Cheadle - at one time taunting her in a text message about her dead husband.

It emerged he had previously told a doctor he had contemplated suicide after an earlier breakup with Mrs Cheadle and said that if she had been present he would have 'slit her throat with a knife'.

In an earlier court appearance she had testified against Bailey from behind screens to avoid making eye contact. The mother-of-four revealed afterwards that she had suffered psychologically since the attack and has been unable to return to work.

'Ever since I’ve had trouble sleeping at night, I wake up having nightmares,' she said.

'It’s been a very difficult process for me. I tried to go back to work for a month but I had a anxiety and panic attacks.'

'We had things in common when we first met, but he just started pushing things a bit too fast and that’s when he started getting jealous. I just don’t understand how someone who have said they love you could do that.

'I was just lucky because I had people who stopped and saved me - I was taken straight to hospital. That young lad took courage to approach us and probably saved my life.'

Earlier the court was told the couple’s 'difficult' relationship had been on and off since November 2010.

They had met when Mrs Cheadle - whose first husband died in June 2010 - cared for Bailey’s late grandmother. In March 2011 the lovers got engaged and had planned their Pretty Woman themed wedding for the following December.

But when Mrs Cheadle called off the relationship in August 2011 Bailey began sending her abusive text messages.

One said she was 'damaged goods' and another message read: 'You could go and join your husband'.

Yet in September the pair rekindled their romance after Bailey apologised and sent romantic poetry to Mrs Cheadle, saying he wanted to give the relationship another go.

The couple spent the night together on October 10 but two days later, when jealous Bailey sent a text message asking if she was seeing anyone else, Mrs Cheadle broke off their engagement for good.

As she left work on the morning of October 13 she noticed Bailey waiting under a bridge of the A6 in Bamber Bridge, near Preston.

Mrs Cheadle turned to walk away but as Bailey ran towards her, she saw he was carrying a kitchen knife and 'looking angry'.

She told the jury: 'It was his eyes. I have never witnessed it before. He slit my throat and he stabbed me in the chest but I didn’t know I’d been stabbed in the chest until I saw the knife. I looked down and I had blood on my chest.'

The victim said she ran into the road where a passing motorist stopped and took her to hospital. She added: 'He just walked off casually. I just screamed hysterically that I’d been stabbed.'

Recalling her relationship with Bailey she said: 'It just didn’t feel right after we got engaged.'

Bailey, of Meanygate, Bamber Bridge, was arrested after he was followed by one of the passing motorists as he fled the scene.

Recreation: The couple had planned to base their wedding ceremony on a scene from the romantic comedy

Locked up: Preston Crown Court, where a judge told Bailey he was 'out of control'

He dumped the knife in a bin where it was later recovered by police and found to be stained with Mrs Cheadle’s blood. In interview he said he was frustrated by the problems in their relationship.

Bailey said he always carried a knife and had only intended to speak to his former fiancee - but when he saw her in the street he became angry.

He admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm but denied attempted murder.

In mitigation his counsel Joanne Shepherd said: 'There were a number of cries for help throughout the relationship between them but weren’t dealt with as constructively as they might have been.

'He shows deep regret for his actions and he is very sorry for the harm he has caused. He is thankful the injuries aren’t as serious as they might have been.'

But Judge Christopher Cornwall told Bailey: 'A very much less attractive side emerges with you when you’re confronted with difficulties which caused you to turn to alcohol.

'She described you as pushy - in that you wanted to pursue the relationship faster than she thought appropriate.

'Your manner was someone who was lying in wait and someone who was armed with a sharp knife with intent to murder. You were out of control.

'She is simply uncomprehending how anyone could hurt someone that they once professed to love to the extent that they behaved in this way.'

Culled from The Daily Mail UK.

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Simply Cheska...