A man stabbed his girlfriend 20 times with a railway spike in an attempt to kill her while driving along Highway 401 was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.
Last January, Derek Carroll was driving along the highway near Cambridge when he suddenly launched into what the Crown termed a “brutal, terrorizing” attack on his girlfriend.
Court heard that in addition to stabbing his girlfriend with the spike, Carroll repeatedly slammed her head into the dashboard and tried to gouge her eyes out – before pushing her out of the car and attempting to run her over.
The 19-year-old woman was found on the highway by a passing tow truck driver, severely injured.
Carroll continued driving, ending up colliding with an OPP cruiser near the Highway 6 North exit.
Carroll, a Montreal resident, pleaded guilty to attempted murder – something Justice Bruce Durno said factored into his decision, as did remorse shown on the part of Carroll.
Crown prosecutor Stephanie Turner said she was satisfied with the judge’s sentence.
“He took into account … the determination to kill her, the horrific injuries that were caused and the continuing mental issues that the victim faces going forward,” she said outside court.
A psychiatric assessment described Carroll as a substance abuser with various personality disorders.
In the months before the attack, the court heard, Carroll had been hospitalized for treatment for drug abuse.
With credit for time already spent incarcerated, Turner has 8.5 years of his sentence left to serve.
