David Churchill is a 52 year old taxi driver, and apparently an online poker fan as well. According to police reports, he also happens to be a brutally “violent bully”. In September, a disagreement with his estranged wife led to her being viciously assaulted with an axe and tied to the bed for 3 days. Churchill then set fire to the couple’s home before dropping her off at an area hospital and turning himself in.
According to records, the incident stemmed from an incident back in March, 2014, when Mr. Churchill was arrested for facilitating the cultivation of £40,000 worth of illegal contraband (marijuana) on his property, located on Norfolk Road, Maghull. The arrest was a final straw for his wife, June, who declared the marriage over at that point. However, David and June agreed to live together as unlikely roommates, despite the estranged situation of their relationship.
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As might be expected of such an abnormal living arrangement, the two hardly spoke to one another. Unfortunately, when they did, things had a tendency to get heated. In September, Mr. Churchill was arrested after an argument over the television ended in his punching June and putting his hand around her throat. He made bail, but was told not to approach his former wife. The very next day, the situation came to an alarming head.
It was around midnight that Mrs. Churchill awoke to the raucous sound of David baching his way into the house with an axe. After tying her up at the wrists and ankles and applying a gag, David proceeded to strike June twice with the axe, causing gaping wounds in her chest and head. From there, she was drug to the bathroom and sat on the toilet as Mr. Churchill continued his brutal assault, slashing her across the throat and back with a rusted Stanely knife.
June believed he was about to cut her head off, but instead, David drug her to the bedroom, tied her to the bed and took a seat at the computer where he spent the next three days playing online poker and getting his finances in order. Over that 72 hour period, June begged him to let her live. Her words must have had some small effect as he did take the time to use an old t-shirt and gaffers tape to crudely dress her wounds.
On the morning of October 3, David Churchill finally decided to take his estranged wife to a hospital, but not before dousing their home in paint thinner and setting it on fire. Living in a semi-detached property, their neighbors, John and Alison Kavanagh, along with their two young children, ages 7 and 8, were forced to flee their home. They were awoken by the warning shouts of other neighbors, getting out just in the nick of time as the blaze overtook the structure.
After dropping June off at the hospital where she was treated for multiple stab wounds, a fractured skull and broken spine, Mr. Churchill delivered his taxi and £5,000 in cash to his brother’s house, then turned himself in, telling the authorities, “I’m one of Merseyside’s most wanted.”
Churchill pled guilty on multiple charges that include cultivation of cannabis, violent assault, intentional wounding, false imprisonment and reckless arson. After being labeled by the judge as a “controlling, spiteful and violent bully”, David Churchill was sentenced to 17 years in jail.