Paul Henry guilty of trying to murder former girlfriend

A man jailed for microwaving a cat to death has been convicted of trying to murder his former girlfriend.

Paul Henry, 46, from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, stabbed Claire Boswell on 15 September 2011, hours after he was spared jail for harassing her.

He had been jailed for six months earlier this year for animal cruelty.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Henry broke into Ms Boswell's house after he had phoned her to say "I'm out". He is expected to be sentenced on Friday.

The court was told he had been to Ms Boswell's home in Gainsborough the previous weekend and climbed on to a roof before saying he intended to kill her.

Henry was then arrested on 14 September for breaching a court order which had been made to prevent him harassing her.

He appeared before magistrates the following day and was given an eight-week suspended prison sentence.

After leaving court, he retrieved some possessions from a police station in West Parade, Lincoln.

Mr Underwood told jurors Henry then telephoned Ms Boswell from a call box opposite the station.

"She answered, but the caller, this defendant, remained silent," Mr Underwood said.

"A little later this defendant rang Claire Boswell again. He was using a mobile phone.

"When she answered that call this defendant said to her 'I'm out'."

Jurors heard Henry went to Ms Boswell's house at about 17:15 BST the same day.

When interviewed by police, he admitted breaking into the property and getting a knife from her kitchen, but claimed he just intended to sit down and talk to her.

But he told police he "just snapped", chasing Ms Boswell upstairs and stabbing her in the chest.

The knife penetrated her breast tissue and injured her liver, causing life-threatening injuries.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesman said after the hearing: "The victim in the case suffered at the hands of Henry for around a decade and we hope that today's outcome gives her the opportunity to move on with her life."

Henry microwaved his friend's cat on 26 July last year, in what a judge said was the "worst case of animal cruelty he could imagine".

Andrew Parsons had returned home from work to find the remains of his cat, Suzie, in the microwave oven.

Henry was on remand accused of trying to murder Ms Bowell at the time of the animal cruelty conviction.