Romanian knifeman to spend at least 10 years in jail for brutal Black Country attack

Judge Amjad Nawaz told 38-year-old Gheorghe Mihai, who stabbed his 23-year-old sister-in-law Roxanna Mihai five times in a car park off Lye High Street, just months after arriving in the UK: “You are a dangerous man who represents a serious risk of causing serious harm to members of the public.

“If the right triggers are pushed he reacts in a highly volatile and highly unpredictable way.

"Loss of life by those who carry knives in the recent past has been a cause of grave concern in this country and courts will not hesitate to pass severe sentences.”

Mihai – locked up for seven years after battering a man to death with a piece of wood in his home country in September 2004 – was jailed for life and must serve at least 10 years before being considered for parole.

Gaman Bobi, a fellow countryman of the defendant who was talking to him moments before the attack, disclosed: “He told me he was going to kill someone and go to jail for 10 years.

"I thought he was joking because he had drunk too much.”

Mihai launched the savage attack on his sister-in-law at a bus stop after she interrupted his attempt to get her husband, his step-brother, Nicursor Gheorghe, to give him £5 on August 7 last year.

Witness Kieran Langan said the defendant, who lived in Park Street, Lye, looked like ‘a man possessed.’

He continued: “He was in a rage. I could tell that she was scared. Then I saw him open his jacket and pull out a large kitchen knife.”

Terrified Roxana ran away pursued by knife-wielding Mihai who caught up with the victim and tripped her on a car park behind the High Street, stabbing her at least five times as she lay on the ground.

Her life was saved when her husband reached the scene and punched her attacker in the face.

Mihai fled to a nearby garage where he dropped the knife and waited for police to arrest him.

The defendant denied attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon but was convicted of both offences after a trial.

Mihai could not be refused entry into the UK because he had served the seven year sentence imposed in Romania in 2006 for the 2004 murder committed in September 2004 and was not wanted for any other crime and did not need to tell officials of his alarming previous conviction when he came to the UK at the end of 2016.

Romania is a member of the European Union and its citizens benefit from ‘free movement’ rights.

They do not need a visa to visit or work here and so avoid the checks made on people from nations not in the EU, who must give details of any previous criminal conviction before it is decided whether to let them in.

The victim never gave a statement to the police about the attack and has now returned to Romania with her husband. The defendant’s wife has also gone back, taking their child with her.