A Ukrainian national who took a sheathed axe to the head of his immigration lawyer giggled in the dock as he heard himself being described as ‘sadistic’.

Prosecutor Jonathan Stone had reminded judge Recorder John Hardy KC of the comments he made at the conclusion of Taras Voinovich’s trial, as he returned to Oxford Crown Court on Monday (June 26) to be sentenced.

At the time, the judge branded Voinovich’s decision to put victim Philip Turpin and others through the stress of a trial, which he attended for the first day before skulking in his jail cell for the remainder of the case, as ‘gratuitous and sadistic’.

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Sitting 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 giggle as he heard the word ‘sadistic’ translated into Russian by the interpreter.

Later, representing himself from the dock having sacked the barrister who represented him during the trial, Voinovich said he did not remember ‘anything’ of the attack last July.

“It’s a lie,” added Voinovich, who was variously said to be 70 or 65-years-old as two different dates of birth were given on court documents.

Asked by the judge what he meant, the defendant said: “I wasn’t going to do anything. There is no evidence. It’s all lies.”

Oxford Mail: A neighbour photographed Taras Voinovich after the attack (Image: Thames Valley Police)A neighbour photographed Taras Voinovich after the attack (Image: Thames Valley Police) (Image: Thames Valley Police)

Recorder Hardy sent him down for life, telling the defendant he would have to serve 12 years in prison before being eligible for release by the Parole Board.

“The Parole Board may take the view, the view that I at present take of you, that you are so dangerous you may never be released,” the judge added.

As he left the dock, Voinovich pointed at where his victims were sat in the public gallery and asked the judge: “How much he pay you bribe, huh [sic]?”

He then raised both middle fingers to the judge in a final salute before following the custody officer to the cells below court.

Earlier, Mr Stone reminded the judge that Voinovich had launched his attack after smashing a front window of the lawyer’s East Oxford home at breakfast time on July 28 last year.

When Mr Turpin came out of his home to try and see who had smashed his window, the defendant approached, pulled a sheathed axe from his rucksack then knocked him to the ground.

Voinovich was caught on CCTV striking the victim.

Oxford Mail:

“Mr Turpin genuinely thought he was going to be killed at that point,” Mr Stone said.

Recorder Hardy interrupted: “And he would have been, had it not been for the intervention of Mr Turpin’s wife and his near neighbour. I have absolutely no doubt about that whatsoever.”

Mr Stone said that the axeman told the probation officer responsible for penning a pre-sentence report: “If it wasn’t for her [Mr Turpin’s wife), I would probably have killed Mr Turpin. I want to apologise to her.”

The probation report described the attack as an ‘act of brutality’ and ‘retributive violence’.

The judge praised the heroism shown by the lawyer’s wife, who was assaulted as she attempted to shield her husband.

He also acknowledged the courage of the neighbour, who also went to his aid and was struck, and other residents who photographed Voinovich as he weaved down the street towards Cowley Road.

Voinovich, of Islip Road, Oxford, was convicted of wounding with intent, causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage.

Jailing him for life with a 12 year minimum tariff, Recorder Hardy said: “Such was your sense of grievance – in my judgment a wholly irrational sense of grievance – that you armed yourself with an axe, a truly lethal weapon, put that axe in your rucksack and hunted down Mr Turpin who at that stage of the morning was enjoying breakfast at his house.

"You lured him out by throwing a brick through his front window.”

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