Lecturer, 55, stabbed estranged wife 20 times outside parents evening

Jilted lecturer, 55, who stabbed his estranged wife 20 times outside their children’s school parents evening and was only stopped from killing her by hero driver is jailed for 22 years

• Dr Ying Zhang, 55, displayed ‘bizarre and jealous behaviour’ prior to the attack
• He stabbed his wife outside their child’s school before witness intervened 

A university lecturer who stabbed his estranged wife 20 times outside a school parents evening and was only stopped from killing her by a hero driver has been jailed for life

Dr Ying Zhang, 55, displayed ‘bizarre, jealous and obsessive behaviour’ before stabbing Hannan Xiao outside their child’s school in north London in September 2021.

He followed his wife to the school before launching the attack as she returned to her car, stabbing her ten to 15 times with a kitchen knife before an electrician intervened and kicked Zhang with a steel toe-capped boot.

Zhang, a lecturer at the University of West London, was today jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years for attempted murder possession of a knife.

The court heard the couple, both Chinese academics, met in 2004 and married two years later.

Dr Ying Zhang, 55, displayed ‘bizarre, jealous and obsessive behaviour’ before stabbing Hannan Xiao outside their child’s school

But the marriage began ‘faltering’ in 2019 and Zhang was left furious over the suggestion of a divorce.

Their separation prompted Zhang to engage in ‘controlling behaviour’ to ‘ensure that he controlled the assets within the family’ and caused Dr Xiao to take the decision to leave him. 

Zhang repeatedly assaulted his wife and she had been to court several times to stop him harassing her and, in the year leading up to the attack, he began spying on his wife, who was also a senior lecturer. 

The court heard this was evidenced by his use of a guesthouse opposite the former family home during the summer and a number of spreadsheets tracking the movements of his wife and colleagues from January 2021.

CCTV footage from the date of the incident showed the defendant following Dr Xiao to a parents evening in north London. 

Although he had been notified of the meeting, he was not invited or expected to attend, with only one parent being allowed to do so.

As his wife returned to her car, he stabbed her between 10 and 15 times in the chest, neck and back using a kitchen knife he was carrying in a rucksack.

Members of the public had prevented the defendant continuing the attack and killing her, and it was only emergency surgery that saved her life.

Electrician Richard O’Brien said Zhang seemed relentless and did not flinch at anything anyone said. 

He kicked Zhang to the side of the head, knocking him unconscious and restrained him, the court heard. 

Zhang was later arrested and denied attempted murder and having a bladed article, but was found guilty of the charges by a jury.

Passing sentence, Judge Rupert Mayo told the court: ‘There was a long standing failure by the defendant to accept his wife’s entitlement to a greater share of the joint finances and this was entrenched in his mind long before any decision to separate was made.

‘I am satisfied that in his mind was a desire to…benefit financially from her death.’

Judge Mayo went on to say he rejected Zhang’s claims that he had no knowledge of possessing the knife or any memory of the incident.

He said: ‘I am sure that Dr Zhang knowingly and deliberately took a knife to the scene. 

‘He knew and planned where his wife would be and I am satisfied that his claim not to have memory of the attack is entirely false.’

The court heard the couple, both Chinese academics, met in 2004 and married two years later

The judge concluded that Zhang should be treated as a ‘dangerous offender’. 

Ms Xiao earlier told the trial that she believed her husband attacked her to get hold of her pension and the family home.

In a victim impact statement read to court, she said: ‘For all those who are experiencing domestic violence right now, please you must report every instance to the police and go to the court to give evidence.

‘Please you must protect yourself but not the abuser. If the abuser ever threatens you with killing do not think a threat is just a threat. They will do it one day.’

She went on to express her gratitude to the people who have helped her, particularly the members of the public ‘who saved my life from his (Zhang’s) knife’.

Walton Hornsby, prosecuting, told jurors that Zhang was in a ‘cold fury’ with his wife, who had been seeking a divorce.

The couple, both Chinese academics specialising in cybersecurity, had married in the UK in 2006.

But Mr Hornsby said their relationship ‘was not always a happy one and was marred by a number of incidents of domestic violence’.

The victim had reported to police that her husband had threatened to kill her but did not pursue charges against him.

In 2020, the defendant had accused her of being unfaithful with a man at work, the court heard.

She had said she was ‘very frightened of his behaviour due to its escalation and increased paranoia’, the court heard.

The couple separated and she successfully applied for a non-molestation order preventing the defendant, from Hatfield, approaching her at her new home in Watford.

The defendant was said to have breached the order in January and August 2021.

Zhang’s defence barrister rejected the suggestion that the attack was done for financial gain and argued it was ‘plainly an act of something which might be better described as rage’.

His depression at the time of the incident was also put forward as mitigation.

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