Anthony Ellis: Sheffield man crept into love rival's house & stabbed him as he slept before punching his dog

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A Sheffield man crept into his love rival’s home in the ‘dead of night’ and stabbed him as he slept. 

Defendant Anthony Ellis has known the complainant since they were children, but their relationship turned sour after the complainant began seeing Ellis’ ex-girlfriend, Sheffield Crown Court heard. 

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The complainant was asleep in his bed, with his girlfriend and her five-year-old son in the room next door, as Ellis found a way into his house at around 5.15am on February 17, 2024. 

Defendant Anthony Ellis has known the complainant since they were children, but their relationship turned sour after the complainant began seeing Ellis’ ex-girlfriend, Sheffield Crown Court heardDefendant Anthony Ellis has known the complainant since they were children, but their relationship turned sour after the complainant began seeing Ellis’ ex-girlfriend, Sheffield Crown Court heard
Defendant Anthony Ellis has known the complainant since they were children, but their relationship turned sour after the complainant began seeing Ellis’ ex-girlfriend, Sheffield Crown Court heard | Adobe/SYP

“You went upstairs, and as the complainant slumbered in his bed in the dead of night you attacked him about the head, and with a Stanley knife…picked up somewhere from the scene, stabbed him to his right shoulder,” the judge, Recorder Taryn Turner, told Ellis, of Birks Avenue, Woodhouse, Sheffield. 

The complainant detailed the distress he felt, and continues to feel, as a result of the shock attack in his own home, in a statement read to the court during a hearing held on October 10, 2024.

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He described how he has been left fearing for his safety, and that of his three children; and struggles to sleep, lying in wait for 5am to pass - the same time as Ellis, aged 37, carried out the attack. 

Prosecutor Allan Arbrister told the court how the complainant’s screams, which rang out as he was being attacked, awoke his girlfriend. 

“She comes out of the bedroom, having heard the screams…he [the complainant] asked her to call the police. 

“The defendant said: ‘What, that s**g’s here?’.”

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“The complainant noticed the defendant had a Stanley knife in his right hand,” Mr Arbrister said, adding that the complainant noticed he was bleeding from his right upper arm, but did not initially realise he had been stabbed.

Ellis told the complainant: ‘Next time I’ll kill you,’ before punching the complainant’s dog, Frank, and telling the animal to ‘f*** off,’ the court heard.

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During the course of the incident, Ellis also threw paint on a vehicle used by the complainant - which was parked outside the property - causing between £1,500 and £2,000 worth of damage. 

Mr Arbrister said police tracked Ellis to his home a short time later, and he responded to his arrest by telling officers that he had not been present at the complainant’s home, and had been ‘doing something’ with his wife instead. 

Ellis was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, charges of wounding without intent and criminal damage at an earlier hearing.  

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Mr Arbrister told the court that Ellis does have a number of other matters on his criminal record, for offences including drug driving, but this wounding charge was the first involving violence.

Following medical examination, the complainant was found to have suffered a two centimetre stab wound to his right shoulder, which required stitches. 

Defending, Richard Adams said Ellis and the complainant had been ‘best friends’ before their relationship had broken down. He claimed Ellis had not gone to the scene of the crime with a knife, and had found one there.

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Ellis endured a ‘tumultuous’ few years, prior to committing the offences, following the death of his sister and his parents’ resulting separation, suggested Mr Adams. 

Recorder Turner jailed Ellis for 27 months, giving him 10 per cent credit for his guilty plea, which, she said, he had taken ‘down to the wire’ by entering it on the first day of his trialRecorder Turner jailed Ellis for 27 months, giving him 10 per cent credit for his guilty plea, which, she said, he had taken ‘down to the wire’ by entering it on the first day of his trial
Recorder Turner jailed Ellis for 27 months, giving him 10 per cent credit for his guilty plea, which, she said, he had taken ‘down to the wire’ by entering it on the first day of his trial | SYP

He said Ellis has also been struggling with baby loss, after both his previous and current girlfriends had fallen pregnant. 

Mr Adams referred Recorder Turner to character references from Ellis’ mother and her friend, which had been submitted on behalf of the defendant. 

Recorder Turner jailed Ellis for 27 months, giving him 10 per cent credit for his guilty plea, which, she said, he had taken ‘down to the wire’ by entering it on the first day of his trial. 

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