A convicted killer was warned he faces life imprisonment after he admitted attempting to murder an Oxford woman.

Stephen Allum, 60, invited his victim round for dinner at the apartment block where he was living on January 24.

The pair went out for a cigarette. He put a knife against her throat and threatened to kill her. He stabbed her in the chest.

Appearing before Oxford Crown Court on Friday morning via video link from Bullingdon prison, Allum, formerly of Morrell Crescent, Oxford, pleaded guilty to a single charge of attempted murder.

Remanding him in custody, Judge Michael Gledhill QC said: “Having read the prosecution papers in this case I am of the view the at the moment this defendant is dangerous and I am considering a life sentence.”

Jonathan Stone appeared for the prosecution and Allum, who spoke only to confirm his name and guilty plea, was represented by Graham Blower.

In 1998, Allum was given an indefinite hospital order for the manslaughter of his then wife, Thelma, at the family home in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in October 1997. He stabbed her to death 17 days after his release from a secure mental hospital.

An inquiry carried out by the NHS in the wake of the tragedy found that the care he had received was inadequate.

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