Thug jailed for life after stabbing probation officer and pointing fake gun at receptionist
A man has been jailed for life for the attempted murder of a mother-of-two probation officer who was stabbed in her chest and stomach at work.
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Natasha Thorpe, 32, was rushed to hospital with critical injuries after she was targeted by Ryan Gee, 35, during a pre-arranged appointment at the probation office in Preston, Lancashire.
Gee had armed himself with two large knives and a BB gun which he brought in a rucksack to his meeting with Ms Thorpe and a male accommodation support officer on the afternoon of July 22 last year.
The defendant appeared "angry from the outset" as they spoke in a private interview room and complained that nobody was helping him, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
He told them "you've done f*** all for me for two years" before he removed the weapons from his bag.
Graphic footage of the incident was played in court as Gee stabbed Ms Thorpe in the chest as she tried to retreat and then chased accommodation officer Paul Jones along a corridor.
Gee then stabbed Ms Thorpe in the stomach as receptionist Louise Catterall stood in his way.
Ms Thorpe and other staff members who came to assist managed to get behind a secure door which Gee tried and failed to open.
The panic alarm was raised and armed police officers arrived eight minutes later to find Gee stood in the reception area with the gun pointed to the head of Ms Catterall with a knife in his other hand.
The defendant was urged to drop the weapons but replied "shoot me, just shoot me" before he was incapacitated with a Taser discharge.
Ms Thorpe was treated at the scene by paramedics and air ambulance doctors before she was taken to Royal Preston Hospital with significant blood loss.
Following life-saving emergency treatment she remained in intensive care for two weeks before she spent a further fortnight on the major trauma ward.
Gee had extensive involvement with the Probation Service following a conviction in April 2023 for causing a child under 13 to watch a sexual act and also escaping from custody which led to an 18-month jail sentence suspended for two years with rehabilitation and unpaid work requirements.
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Periods of imprisonment followed as he failed to comply with the requirements and committed offences of exposure and criminal damage during the suspended term.
Prosecutor Mark Rhind KC told the court: "It is now clear that Ryan Gee unreasonably and wrongly came to blame the Probation Services for his failures to comply with sentences, the resulting sentences of imprisonment and accommodation issues he faced upon his release from custody.
"He began to plan revenge upon Probation Service officers who he blamed for his situation."
Gee was sleeping in a tent in Burnley, Lancashire, but accommodation had been found for him, although he launched his attack before the two officers had chance to inform him of the new arrangements.
Mr Rhind said Ms Thorpe requires further surgery and her injuries were "permanent and irreversible", and along with the psychological impact, will have a substantial and long-term effect on her day-to-day life and her ability to work.
Reading her victim personal statement from the witness box, Ms Thorpe, a probation officer for eight years, said she took pride in "keeping others safe" but no longer felt safe in her job.
She said: "That day I believed I was going to die.
"I am a mother to two beautiful children. At that moment the thought of them became my strength. I refused to let an act of cowardly evil take me away from my children."
Ms Catterall, who had worked in public service for 32 years, said the "mental scars will never heal" as she thought she was going to die.
She added: "I never thought I would be a victim and a witness to such an horrendous and violent incident."
'Terrifying ordeal'
Rachel Cooper, defending, said: "Mr Gee expresses considerable regret and remorse to his victims while also understanding that may ring very hollow to them."
She said a "very complex psychological background" had emerged of the defendant who was said to have endured emotional and sexual abuse in his childhood.
A pre-sentence psychiatric report found complex manifestations of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, ADHD and probably an emotionally unstable personality disorder, the court was told.
But Judge Stuart Driver KC concluded it was a premeditated attack and Gee was "conspicuously dangerous".
He told the defendant: "You planned to kill at least one person and you nearly succeeded in doing so.
"In pursuit of that plan you used extreme violence which almost caused the death of an entirely innocent young woman who is the mother of two young children.
"You also caused other innocent public servants to endure a terrifying ordeal."
He said Ms Thorpe and Ms Catterall were "brave and blameless".
Gee was sentenced to serve a minimum term of 16 years before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board.
He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to attempted murder, threatening a person with an offensive weapon, false imprisonment, possession of an imitation firearm and two bladed articles.