A MAN who tried to murder his girlfriend in an apparently motiveless knife attack was yesterday jailed for 12 years.

Andrew Burn, 22, slashed Zoe Lonsdale's throat as she slept in their bed before stabbing the 19-year-old and trying to strangle her.

The violent attack baffled police as well as the victim and her family, but a court heard yesterday that Burn may have carried it out because he wanted to end their relationship.

The former factory worker's barrister said Ms Lonsdale was jealous of the relationship Burn still maintained with an ex-partner and their child and he had tried on at least one occasion to leave their home.

On the night of the attack, March 9, Ms Lonsdale and Burn had been entertaining friends at their home in Maynard Street, Carlin How, east Cleveland, and when the teenager went to bed, her boyfriend sat up drinking.

Burn then armed himself with a steak knife and cut Ms Lonsdale's throat as she dozed, and, when she woke, tried to stab her in the head.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the blade bent more than 90 degrees when he accidentally plunged it into a wall, so Burn picked up a Stanley knife and stabbed Ms Lonsdale in the chest.

Martina Connolly, prosecuting, said Burn throttled Ms Lonsdale until she blacked out, and only stopped the attack when she came around and pleaded: "Before you kill me, think about your son."

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, QC, warned Burn that he must be supervised for the maximum of five years after being released because of his potential danger.

Judge Fox told him: "You were still 21 when you decided that you would not only end your relationship with Zoe Lonsdale but that you would also end her life in order to achieve that.

"Your thinking was distorted in the extreme. It was a sustained and determined attack. No thanks to you, it failed in its aim.

"You did not kill her, so you went to strangle her and it was only when she identified to you the consequences of your actions - namely that you would never see your child again - that, out of your self-interest, you desisted.

"There is continuity of a self-centred core in all of these aspects of this case, which is deeply worrying."

Burn's barrister, John Gillette, told the court of his impeccable previous character, and said there had been no sign of any domestic violence in any of his relationships.

Detective Inspector Nick Owen said: "This was a domestic violence incident in the extreme, with no apparent motive being offered by the accused.

"Zoe Lonsdale has suffered a horrifying ordeal, which will obviously live with her for a very long time to come."

After the case, Zoe's step-father, Andrew Greenwood, 38, said: "We are all delighted with the sentence."

Burn, of Conniston Road, Skelton, who was found guilty of attempted murder after a trial last month, maintained throughout that he had simply been trying to scare Ms Lonsdale into finishing their relationship.