Vicious : Kerry Roberts slashed 44-year-old Ashley Arnold 's throat and chest after accusing her of taking drugs behind his back , a court was told . A man who almost hacked his girlfriend to death with a meant cleaver before going to a Halloween party covered in her blood has been jailed for life . Kerry Roberts slashed 44-year-old Ashley Arnold 's throat and chest after in a 'frenzied ' attack after accusing her of taking drugs behind his back , a court was told . He then went to the Halloween party in Colchester , Essex , wearing just his boxers and told his daughter , Linzi , who was hosting the party : ' I 've killed her , she 's dead . ' Roberts , known as Wart , was due to stand trial charged with attempted murder but changed his plea to guilty when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday . Today he was sentenced to life imprisonment , with a minimum term of nine years . Sentencing Roberts , Judge Charles Gratwicke said : 'You embarked on an unprovoked , murderous , frenzied and sustained attack on Ms Arnold in which you viciously and mercilessly attempted to butcher her to death with a meat cleaver . 'The injuries you inflicted on that women were horrific . The most significant being a severe , gaping wound to the neck running from ear to ear . 'But for the intervention of skilled medical professionals , I am certain she would have died . This was a brutal and callous attempt to kill . ' Roberts , 49 , had been seen acting strangely while at the party with his then-girlfriend Ms Arnold earlier in the evening of 1 November last year . He told one guest he was in love with Ms Arnold but was convinced she was going to die . The couple left the party at 10pm and returned to Ms Arnold 's home in Jaywick , Essex . Mother-of-four Ms Arnold suffered severe cuts to her throat , running almost from ear to ear , when Roberts attacked her , the court heard . She also sustained a 6in cut from her armpit to her right breast and suffered severe injuries to her hands when she tried to defend herself . Ms Arnold staggered outside where she was helped by neighbours and passers-by . She was taken to Colchester General Hospital , Essex , in a critical condition . The court heard Ms Arnold has recovered but is still unable to use her right hand properly . Brutal : Police cars outside the home in Essex where the attack took place on the 1 November last year . Roberts , who suffers from depression , returned to the party , but his daughter told him to leave after he told her : ' I 've killed her , she 's dead . ' After he left the party , Linzi and her partner , Wayne Sams , went searching for him and found him crouched in the driveway of his parents ' home , where he had previously lodged . Mr Sams gave Roberts his tracksuit bottoms when he begged for clothes before Roberts fled . Police found him crouching in a bush on a nearby road . At the time of the attack , Roberts was on licence after serving just two years of a six-year jail sentence for setting fire to a former girlfriend 's home in Corringham , Essex . Investigation : The home in Essex where the attack took place . Roberts was due to stand trial charged with attempted murder but changed his plea to guilty when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday . Peter Clark , prosecuting , said : 'This was a sustained attack that caused serious physical and mental harm . 'Perhaps the most disconcerting thing is the similarities with the previous incident . ' Speaking after the hearing yesterday , Det Insp Anne Cameron said : ' I am relieved Roberts has admitted his guilt , albeit at the start of his trial . 'He has saved the victim having to relieve the events of that traumatic night in court . We were so lucky we were not investigating a murder . ' John Caudle , mitigating , today said Roberts had been driven by a misguided obsession with his partner misusing drugs - a similar motive to what had led him to commit the previous arson . He added : 'This was not a planned attack . It was spontaneous and as Your Honour observed yesterday during opening he was not pre-armed and it was during that he went and got the weapon . 'Clearly , he flipped . '
Arnold slashed Ashley Kerry Roberts 's throat and chest in attack last year . After attack he returned to party where he said : ' I 've killed her , she 's dead ' Miss Kerry Roberts , 44 , staggered outside where neighbours phoned ambulance . Roberts was sentenced to life in prison at Chelmsford Crown Court today .