Afghanistan veteran slashed victim’s throat whilst screaming ‘You need to die’ in bitter divorce dispute
A former Army major who drove more than 140 miles to slash his ex-wife’s throat with a Stanley knife has been jailed for 25 years after being convicted of attempted murder.
Jonathan Creak, 51, launched what a judge described as a “chilling and vicious” attack on Cambridge-educated Rhiannon Creak in a Norfolk country lane, leaving her with life-threatening injuries that required emergency surgery.
The Afghanistan veteran was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on Friday after being found guilty of attempted murder and inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent following a trial in April.
Judge Katharine Moore said Creak was “driven by anger and resentment” over a bitter financial dispute following their divorce and posed a significant risk to women who he believed had wronged him.
The court heard how Creak tracked his 43-year-old victim from his home in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, to Mill Lane in Hardwick, near Long Stratton, on 6 July last year whilst she was on her way to muck out a friend’s horses.
Ms Creak became aware she was being followed by a white van on the A140 road heading south from Norwich. When she pulled over, she saw her ex-husband’s company logo on the vehicle as he drove past.
Creak then doubled back and parked his van “nose to nose” with her car before producing the blade and launching his savage attack.
“As he was slashing at my throat, he said ‘You need to die, you need to die’,” Ms Creak told the court. “I could not make a noise anymore. It was just blood and bubbling.”
The victim suffered an eight-inch cut to her neck, a five-inch wound beneath her breast, and multiple injuries to her back and leg. She required a blood transfusion and emergency surgery to her windpipe.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Creak described her ex-husband as “a calculated and very dangerous man” and said the attack had left her with post-traumatic stress disorder and hyper-vigilance.
“The emotional impact of the attempt on my life has been unimaginable for me and my family,” she said. “I haven’t slept for more than a couple of hours a day since July. I am scared to be alone.”
After fleeing the scene, Creak called his fitness instructor partner Sophie Carter, with whom he has three young children, telling her “I have killed Rhiannon.
Ms Carter, who initially didn’t believe him, contacted police after Creak confirmed he had blood on him. When officers arrived at her Oxfordshire home and Creak called again, he told them: “I have done it. I have killed my ex-wife.”
Police bodycam footage released after his conviction showed Creak laughing as he was arrested on a busy dual carriageway near Bedford, telling armed officers: “Honestly, there’s no need for this… I’m guessing you guys don’t get much action?”
Judge Moore, who also imposed a four-year extended licence period, said Creak could not rely on mental health issues as a defence despite evidence of depression, anxiety and possible PTSD symptoms.
“You clearly harbour grudges and are motivated by a sense of resentment,” she told him. “You wanted her to know that she was being followed. You can only have wanted her to feel fear.”
The court heard that Creak, who served 29 years with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers before being medically discharged in October 2021, had also assaulted Ms Carter, breaking some of her ribs by pushing her against a wall.
Claire Matthews, prosecuting, said Creak had made a “deliberate decision” to arm himself and the “explosive violence” had been carefully planned. She said it was “sheer good fortune” a local resident had been feeding his fish and was able to assist the victim.
The couple met in 2006 when Ms Creak was in the Officers’ Training Corps at Cambridge University and Creak was an instructor. They married in 2008 and he was posted to Belize, Germany and Afghanistan.
They first separated in 2012 but reconciled before splitting permanently in 2018 whilst living at the Apache helicopter base in Wattisham, Suffolk. They divorced in 2022, but Creak remained bitter about the financial settlement.
In a prepared statement to police, Creak complained his ex-wife had “stonewalled proceedings by not agreeing to any settlement” and had “become even more bitter” about his new relationship.
“I believe she tried to destroy me after I gave her everything,” he said, claiming he only wanted to make her answer his questions about their financial dispute.
However, Judge Moore rejected his claims, noting this was the first time the former couple had seen each other since 2019. She said Creak had decided the evening before the attack that “you were going to kill her”.
Research shows veterans with PTSD are significantly more likely to perpetrate domestic violence, with studies finding over 80 per cent committed at least one act of violence in the previous year – 14 times higher than the general population.
The confluence of traumatic brain injury, PTSD and other mental health disorders puts post-9/11 generation veterans at extremely high risk of perpetrating violence in the home, according to experts.
UK studies have found Army personnel are at higher risk of intimate partner violence compared to other service branches, with mental health problems strongly associated with perpetration.
Detective Inspector Duncan Woodhams said after sentencing: “This has been a terrifying ordeal for Rhiannon and her family. It has had a profound impact on her physical and psychological wellbeing.
“Nothing will ever erase the experience for Rhiannon, but we hope that the sentence today ensures her perpetrator will have to serve some justice for his unthinkable actions.”
Creak, who showed no emotion during most of the trial, was doubled over shaking with his head in his hands during the judge’s sentencing remarks.
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