Frenchman gets life for 'frenzied' attack on UK teen

A Frenchman was was jailed for life today for a frenzied knife attack on a schoolgirl as she walked through a park in the UK.

Jessica Knight, then 14, was listening to her iPod when Kristofer Beddar, 21, launched the unprovoked assault in Lancashire, stabbing her 20 times in the chest, neck, stomach and back.

She was left for dead in a deserted, darkened park, but was discovered by passers-by and underwent five hours of emergency surgery as doctors battled to save her life.

Beddar was convicted of attempted murder today following a six-day trial at Preston Crown Court.

Jailing him for life with a minimum of 12 years, Judge Anthony Russell said: “On the 21st of January this year for no reason that can be ascertained you attacked Jessica Knight in Astley Park and left her for dead.

“This was a frenzied attack with a knife that you habitually carried.”

Beddar, described as a loner with a fiery temper, had downed half a bottle of whisky.

He tried to dispose of his blood-stained clothing but later confessed to his mother Marion: “Mum, I think it must have been me” – and she turned him in to police.

Beddar, of Lancashire, was living with members of his English family at the time of the attack in the park in Chorley.

He admitted wounding with intent, but claimed he had no memory of attacking Jessica and had no motive to kill her.

Jessica, now 15, has been left with “long-term physical and psychological problems”, the court heard.