An asylum seeker has been jailed for seven years for repeatedly stabbing the woman he loved and her uncle in what a judge described as "a horrific attack".

Javir Ahmed, 25, collapsed screaming in the dock at Oxford Crown Court on October 10 after hearing his sentence for unlawful wounding. He had pleaded guilty to the charge.

The attack happened on January 22 as Randa Al Teraifi and her uncle, Gantal El Arabi, both from Sudan, left Oxford College of Further Education where she was studying information technology.

Paul Ross, prosecuting, said Ahmed and Miss Al Teraifi started a relationship in 1998 while living in Sudan.

Ahmed treated her badly and occasionally violently if other men spoke to her and in May 2000 she emigrated to Britain, eventually settling in Oxford.

When Ahmed followed her to Oxford, Miss Al Teraifi felt responsible for him and agreed to help him find accommodation. But Ahmed continued to treat her violently. On January 22, Ahmed interrupted one of Miss Al Teraifi's classes at the college and when she left with her uncle, he was waiting for her.

Ahmed stabbed Miss Al Teraifi twice in the back with the knife. When her uncle intervened, Ahmed shouted "I'll kill you too" and stabbed him in the chest. He went on to stab Miss Al Teraifi several times in the face and chest and her uncle in the head and arms before pleading with them to stab him.

Peter Mitchell, defending, said Ahmed suffered from an emotionally unstable personality disorder.

Passing sentence, Judge Mary-Jane Mowat recommended he be deported.