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NHS worker chased down street and stabbed to death with machete by estranged husband

Nurse Victoria Woodhall was stabbed to death (Picture: SWNS)
Nurse Victoria Woodhall was stabbed to death (Picture: SWNS)

An NHS worker was murdered by her husband who chased her down the street before stabbing her to death with a Gurkha-style machete.

Craig Woodhall, 41, has admitted to stabbing mum-of-three Victoria, 31, multiple times during a sustained attack on 29 March.

He had been due to stand trial on 28 September but changed his plea at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday.

Victoria, an operating department practitioner at the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, was found stabbed to death outside a house in Barnsley.

Police were called at 4.55pm after Woodhall chased Victoria from their property in Windsor Crescent into the street, before attacking her with a machete.

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Craig Woodhall has admitted to killing his estranged wife (Picture: SWNS)
Craig Woodhall has admitted to killing his estranged wife (Picture: SWNS)

An air ambulance was landed in a nearby field and paramedics rushed to the property, but Victoria was pronounced dead at the scene.

Woodhall fled the scene but later handed himself in by flashing his headlights at cops as he drove past them.

A post-mortem examination concluded that Victoria died as a result of multiple incised wounds.

Police said she was stabbed with a Gurkha-style machete knife, which officers recovered from the scene.

The violence she suffered was so extreme that she had multiple skull fractures, as well as significant injuries to her head, face, neck, arms, hands, shoulders and back.

Detectives said CCTV footage showed he dragged Victoria to the ground and stabbed her several times before walking away.

He returned a further two times to attack her again.

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Police and forensics outside the house of the couple in Barnsley (Picture: SWNS)
Police and forensics outside the house of the couple in Barnsley (Picture: SWNS)

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Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Ben Wood said: “Victoria was subjected to a brutal and sustained attack, and there were several people in the immediate vicinity who witnessed this horrifying murder.”

Tributes were paid to Victoria by Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust following her death.

Angela Wood, chief nurse at the trust, described her as "a cherished and much-loved colleague".

Woodhall, formerly of Windsor Crescent, Barnsley, appeared for a plea hearing at Sheffield Crown Court, ahead of his scheduled trial next month.

He has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 2 October.