A 25-year-old Asian-origin man charged with attempted murder of a female student, also an Asian, in an east London restaurant two years ago has been sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment by a court here.
Sriram Ambarla, who was arrested at the crime scene, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey court on Thursday.
According to a court report in ‘MyLondon', they both came to study at the University of East London in 2022.
The two had earlier met in Hyderabad, India, and parted ways in 2019.
The unnamed victim, a student from Kerala in her 20s, was working part-time as a waitress at the Hyderabad Wala restaurant.
Ambarla used to bombard her with phone calls and text messages and turn up at her house unexpectedly to blackmail her into marriage.
On March 5, 2022, Ambarla arrived at the restaurant armed with a knife. Having taken a seat at the table, his ex-girlfriend treated him like any other customer and served him food.
Later an altercation broke out and he pulled out his knife and stabbed her repeatedly.
Judge Philip Katz described Ambarla as “jealous, possessive and determined” when he attacked his former girlfriend.
“That she did not die is no thanks to you. She was within a hair's breadth of dying at your hands in a public and terrifying way,” Judge Katz told him while handing down the sentence, which will run concurrently with a 12-month sentence for knife possession.
Ambarla is also banned from making contact with his victim again through an indefinite restraining order.
The court heard that before the attack Ambarla made many searches about 'killing a human' as he sat in the restaurant waiting to attack.
Soon after the stabbing, Ambarla approached police officers telling them he had stabbed his “girlfriend” and later said he wanted to be sent back to India so he could be put to death.
According to the ‘MyLondon' court report, horrific footage of the attack and medical evidence of nine stab wounds on the victim formed part of the evidence for the hearing.
The victim was left in critical care for nearly a month undergoing six surgeries. Two years after the horrific attack, she graduated from her master's course.
But she continues to struggle with panic attacks and fears Ambarla might burst into her bedroom at any moment.
Two forensic psychologists, who assessed Ambarla, concluded he was a dangerous offender and ruled out that a “borderline personality disorder” could have significantly impaired his judgement during the attack. (Agencies)
Damian Talbot