A former Army officer shouted ‘you need to die’ as he slashed his ex-wife’s throat with a knife after telling her she had ‘taken everything from him’, a court heard today.
Jonathan Creak, 50, allegedly used a Stanley knife to repeatedly ‘repeatedly slash the flesh’ of Rhiannon Creak, leaving her with serious wounds to her neck, back, breast and leg.
The ‘chilling and vicious’ attack happened after he drove from his home in Oxfordshire to confront her in a country lane in Norfolk over the terms of their break-up.
Ms Creak screamed and was ‘flailing around’ trying to get him off as he carried out ‘more than one slicing and slashing action on her neck’, jurors were told.
Prosecutor Claire Matthews said the defendant’s terrified victim had described the sound of bubbles in her throat as she desperately tried to breathe through the blood.
Creak, who rose to the rank of major, fled in a van after a local ‘heard the commotion’ and went to help Ms Creak.
Her ‘grave’ and ‘serious’ wounds included an eight-inch cut to her neck and a five-inch injury beneath her breast, leaving her needing a blood transfusion and emergency surgery to her windpipe and neck.
Jonathan Creak, 50, (pictured) allegedly used a Stanley knife to repeatedly ‘repeatedly slash the flesh’ of Rhiannon Creak
Ms Creak (pictured) screamed and was ‘flailing around’ trying to get him off as he carried out ‘more than one slicing and slashing action on her neck’, jurors were told
The defendant started following Ms Creak, 43, (pictured) while she was driving her new partner’s blue BMW to muck out her friend’s horses, the prosecution said
Creak, of Woodstock, Oxfordshire, denies attempted murder and inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent but has admitted assault occasioning GBH and possessing a bladed article.
Opening the case, Ms Matthews said: ‘The prosecution say that Mr Creak intended to kill Rhiannon that morning. We say that his actions, coupled with his words, demonstrated how you can be sure that was his intent. Slicing the flesh of another human demonstrates that intent.
‘By the time he concluded the attack, having slashed her multiple times, it was his belief that is what he had done. That is what he told his partner and the police officer.
‘The defendant’s case is that he lacked such an intent and that while he did cause really serious injuries, that is not what he intended.’
The attack took place in Hardwick, Norfolk, on July 6 year – six years after the couple split and two years after their divorce.
Ms Matthews said: ‘They had parted company years before and, save for contact through their respective solicitors concerning the financial aspects of their affairs, there had been no contact between the pair for years.’
The defendant started following Ms Creak, 43, while she was driving her new partner’s blue BMW to muck out her friend’s horses.
During the 20-minute journey, she became aware that she was being tailed by a white van on the A14 road heading south from Norwich and it continued behind her as she turned off into the village of Hardwick.
Creak, of Woodstock, Oxfordshire, denies attempted murder and inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent but has admitted assault occasioning GBH and possessing a bladed article
Ms Creak became ‘increasingly anxious’ and pulled over at the side of the road, spotting her ex-husband’s company logo on the side of the van as he drove past, Ms Matthews said.
Creak then doubled back and parked his van ‘nose to nose’ with her car and they both got out of their vehicles, with Ms Creak ‘unsurprisingly baffled’ about why he was following her.
The prosecutor said: ‘She asked the blindingly obvious question “What are you doing here?”.
‘The prosecution say that Jonathan Creak began to tell Rhiannon that she had taken everything from him.
‘She tried to explain that they had moved on. He had a new life with a new partner and children with his new partner but it didn’t work. He reached into his pocket and produced a knife.
‘She recalled hearing a metallic click as if something was being opened. He was telling her that he had nothing left to lose. Her instinct was to run but he told her that he could catch her.
‘What followed was a chilling and vicious attack on Rhiannon Creak in that country lane. Using a blade, the defendant repeatedly slashed at her flesh, even when she was on the ground.’
After the villager came to Ms Creak’s rescue and the defendant fled, he called his partner, Sophie Carter, and ‘told her that he had killed Rhiannon’, prompting her to ‘very sensibly’ call the police, Ms Matthews told the jury.
A police officer was then sent to Ms Carter’s home and picked up the phone when Creak called again to hear him say words to the effect of: ‘I have done it. I have killed my ex-wife.’
Creak told the officer that he was in the Bedford area while heading back home and was pulled over and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
He was found with blood stains on his hands and clothing and had the Stanley knife in his pocket, the court heard.
Interviewed by police, he gave them a prepared statement which said: ‘I was married to Rhiannon Creak for ten years. We split in 2018 and since that time Rhiannon has refused to settle in relation to the divorce and financial settlement. Because I forced the issue, the divorce went through in 2022.
‘Since then she has stonewalled proceedings by not agreeing to any settlement.’
He added that she had ‘become even more bitter’ as a result of his new relationship, saying: ‘I believe she tried to destroy me after I gave her everything.’
Creak said he had decided to confront her ‘face to face’ after domestic issues in his new relationship the previous day.
He added: ‘I drove to Norfolk and confronted her. She treated me with contempt and treated me as if I was nothing. This enraged me and I accept I took a knife which was in my pocket and used it to assault her.’
Creak insisted that he had not intended to kill or seriously injure her and had just been trying to make her answer him.
But Ms Matthews told jurors: ‘Sophie Carter describes some domestic issues in the period leading up to this which, the prosecution say, caused him to be very angry indeed.’
The trial continues.
