Ipswich: Alexander Cornell jailed for Bury St Edmunds attack

Sentencing 29-year-old Alexander Cornell for attempted murder, Judge Martyn Levett said he’d acted out of feelings of "resentment, jealousy and desire to remove his boss’s partner from the scene to clear the path for him to shower her with affection.”

He said it was ridiculous for Cornell to say he didn’t have any romantic feelings for her.

Judge Levett said Cornell had an “ungovernable and intrenchant” desire for revenge and had a fascination with violent films, including Kill Bill.

He described Cornell as ”dangerous” and passed a 20-year prison sentence with an extended licence period of five years.

The 29-year-old attacked the victim in Bury St Edmunds (Image: Suffolk police)

This means he will have to serve two thirds of the sentence before he can be considered for early release by the parole board.

Cornell, of Britannia Road, Ipswich, denied attempting to murder Blazej Piortowski on July 4 last year at the Parkway car park in Bury St Edmunds but was found guilty by a jury by a 10-2 majority verdict on January 23 after a trial.

He had previously admitted wounding Mr Piotrowski with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm, having a knife in a public place and having weapons in his home.

Sentence was adjourned until Thursday for a pre-sentence report.

In addition to being jailed, Cornell was banned from contacting Mr Piotrowski and his partner indefinitely.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Piotrowski said he was off work for ten days following the attack and he was worried that Cornell would come after him and his partner and kill them when he was released from prison.

During the trial, the court heard that one of the stab wounds, which was described as “deep”, landed on Mr Piortowski’s shoulder just below his neck, while two other wounds on his shoulder only caused superficial injuries.

Stephen Rose, prosecuting, told the court that Cornell had been employed as a bar tender at the Miller & Carter restaurant in Ipswich and appeared to have been “infatuated to the point of obsession” with his manager, who was in a relationship with Mr Piortowski.

Cornell had asked her out on numerous occasions but she had made it clear to him that she wasn’t interested.

He had bought her flowers, chocolates, underwear, a red dress and gym clothing and she had also been told that he had her picture as the background on his watch.

The woman had also changed her gym three times and on each occasion Cornell had allegedly joined them as well. 

On the day of the stabbing, Mr Piortowski had returned to his car in a multi-storey car park after working a shift as a chef at Bill’s restaurant in Bury St Edmunds and was bending down to look at his tyres when he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.

When he turned round he saw Cornell holding a “Zombie” knife.

Cornell ran off and Mr Piortowski returned to his restaurant before going to hospital where he had sutures in the most serious wound.

The court heard that a substantial number of weapons were found in a bag belonging to Cornell and in his bedroom after his arrest.

Cornell chose not to give evidence during the trial.

Steven Dyble, for Cornell, described the offences as unsophisticated and said he had driven to Bury St Edmunds in his own car and hadn’t tried to cover his face.

He said Cornell had no previous convictions and had no intention of contacting the victim or his girlfriend in the future.

Mr Dyble said Cornell had ben a model prisoner while he had been in custody and had expressed remorse.

Mr Dyble said Cornell denied acting out of passion for Mr Piotrowski’s partner.