A 'frenzied' man has been found guilty of a terrifying attack on his girlfriend while she relaxed in the bath.

Liam Hanley had denied attempting to kill Sarah Harries at a flat at Sussex Wharf, Shoreham in September last year.

He was found not guilty of attempted murder by a jury at Lewes Crown Court, but he was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.

The 32-year-old slit her throat and stabbed her 39 times before going on the run, prompting armed officers to seal off the area and the police helicopter was scrambled to hunt him down.

Meanwhile paramedics and police officers recorded the harrowing scene inside the flat, where blood was splattered throughout, and where Ms Harries was found naked and terrified.

She described how he had a look in his eyes that she had never seen before, and told officers she had screamed in the bath as he grabbed her by the hair.

He claimed that she had been the one with the knife and had attacked him, but the jury at found him guilty of grievous bodily harm.

Rachel Beckett, prosecuting, said the couple had an on-off relationship for about a year before the incident, though father-of-five Hanley also saw other women during that time.

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She said: “The attack was completely out of the blue. Ms Harries had just washed her hair in the bath and was relaxing when the defendant came in.

“He grabbed her by the hair. She said he had a look in his eye she had not seen before. He did not look like the man she had fallen in love with. She was in shock trying to fight him off.

“He slit her throat and tried to push her under the water then continued to attack her. The attack was frenzied, she received some 39 separate stab wounds, including to her neck, face, chest, and abdomen.”

The jury heard the harrowing 999 call in which Ms Harries, 37, thought she was going to die.

She told officers: “I ran the bath, and I must have been in there for five minutes before I got in.

“He came into the bathroom, at first I thought nothing of it. Then he grabbed my hair and had a knife in his hand.

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“The first thing he did was slit my throat. I remember trying to fight him off and I remember screaming at him.

“I was battling with him and asking ‘why are you doing this?’The look in his eyes scared me. I have never seen him like that before. It was almost like a frenzy.”

They battled through the house, and in the kitchen she was stabbed in her stomach. She said: “I thought ‘holy crap, I’m in trouble here’ when I felt the knife going in.

“I got the knife away from him a couple of times, I was desperately trying to get the knife off him. It was fight or flight.”

Hanley now faces sentencing by Judge Christine Henson QC on May 10.