A Ukrainian man who was sentenced to life imprisonment for attacking his immigration lawyer with an axe. The judge described him as being “sadistic.”
The convict, Taras Voinovich also stuck his middle fingers up at a judge, who had told him he was ‘sadistic’ as he was being led out.
Voinovich was charged for tracking down solicitor Philip Turpin at his home in Oxford and was caught on CCTV striking him with an axe on July 28 last year.
The accused charge held that he was seen smashing a front window of the house and Turpin only survived the the attack based on the courageous moves of his wife and neighbour because of heroic intervention from his wife and neighbour.
But, against clear evidence, the defendant, whose exact age is unclear but is believed to be 65 or 70, denied charges of wounding with intent, actual bodily harm and criminal damage.
After being found guilty at trial, Voinovich, of Islip Road, Oxford, returned to Oxford Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced for the offences.
The convict who sat in the dock wearing a sand-coloured donkey jacket, orange Under Armour t-shirt, wire-framed glasses and a grey beard, the shaven-headed defendant appeared to laugh, upon hearing the word ‘sadistic’ translated by the interpreter.
A report said that Turpin’s window was smashed in the early hours and when he came outside to see who was responsible, Voinovich came out and took a sheathed axe from his rucksack then knocked him to the ground.
The prosecutor, Jonathan Stone told the court that Turpin genuinely thought he was going to die at that point.
Recorder John Hardy KC, interrupted and said that: “And he would have been, had it not been for the intervention of Turpin’s wife and his near neighbour. I have absolutely no doubt about that whatsoever.”
Stone said that the accused had told the probation officer responsible for the pre-sentence report that ” if it wasn’t for her (Turpin’s wife), I would probably have killed Turpin. I want to apologize to her.”
The probation report described the attack as an “act of brutality” and “retributive violence.”
The judge commended the heroism shown by the lawyer’s wife, who was attacked as she attempted to protect her husband, while emphasizing the courage of the neighbour, who there to defend the victim and was struck, as well as residents who photographed Voinovich as he weaved down the street towards Cowley Road.
Surprisingly, Voinovich, who represented himself, having sacked the barrister who represented him during the trial, declared that he could not remember ‘anything’ of the attack last July.
Voinovich was variously said to be 70 or 65 years old as two different dates of birth were given on court documents.
He was said to have pointed at where his victims were sat in the public gallery and asked the judge: “How much he pay you bribe, huh [sic]?”
He was also said to have raised both middle fingers to the judge in a final salute before being led by the custody officer to the cells below the court where he would me serving his term.
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