🔴 Preston Knife Attack: Man Jailed for 30 Years Over Flat Stabbing

A 22-year-old man has been jailed for 30 years after admitting attempted murder following a knife attack at a flat in Preston which left a man in his 40s with multiple slash wounds and a punctured lung.

Cristinel Gogalea, formerly of Wilbraham Street, Preston, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court, Sessions House, on Friday after previously pleading guilty to the offence at an earlier hearing in January.

The court heard that the attack took place shortly after midnight on 15 July last year at a first-floor flat in Arnhem Road. Police were called at about 12.15am after a member of the public reported that an injured man was lying on the floor on New Hall Lane.

Two officers who were first to arrive found the victim “covered from head to toe in blood”, immediately observing what was described as a five-inch slash wound to the top of his head.

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The man was taken to hospital, where he underwent surgery. He had suffered slash wounds to his head, back, chest, elbow and foot, as well as a punctured lung.

In evidence gathered during the investigation, the victim told officers that he had been asleep in bed when he heard noise outside his flat. When he opened the door, a man entered and assaulted him. He then fled the property, later telling police he feared he was going to be killed.

A search of the flat led officers to recover a mobile phone from the kitchen floor. Following forensic examination, the device was linked to Gogalea.

Detectives also secured CCTV footage showing four people running from an alleyway opposite Arnhem Road, with one person seen carrying what was described as a machete-type weapon.

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Gogalea was arrested a short time later after a vehicle was stopped in Preston.

Passing sentence, the court imposed a 30-year extended sentence, comprising 25 years’ custody and a further five-year extended licence period. Under the terms of the sentence, Gogalea must serve two-thirds of the custodial term before becoming eligible to apply for parole.

His mother, Rebeca Anitescu, 47, and stepfather, Marian Anitescu, 53, both of Wilbraham Street, also appeared before the court.

Both had pleaded guilty to assisting an offender, having helped Gogalea change his clothes after the attack and arranged for him to be driven away from the area.

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Anitescu was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment, while Marian Anitescu was jailed for 23 months.

Following the hearing, Detective Sergeant Greg Bashall of Preston CID said: “This was a ferocious attack with a knife which left the victim with serious injuries.

“By his guilty plea, Gogalea has acknowledged that this was an attempt to kill the victim.

“The seriousness of the injuries goes to show what the horrific consequences of using a knife as a weapon can be.

“Lancashire Police take reports of knife crime extremely seriously and will thoroughly investigate such reports so to bring offenders to justice.”