Ex-soldier Simon McHugh stabbed the victim repeatedly to his face, neck, chest, back and legs before fleeing and breaking into an innocent couple’s home
Martin Naylor Courts and legal affairs correspondent
17:15, 15 Jan 2026Updated 18:17, 15 Jan 2026
Police pictured at the scene in Westdale Lane East, Carlton, following the knife attack(Image: Joseph Raynor)
A former soldier from Nottingham told a friend ‘you know you’re going to die today?‘ before launching a frenzied knife attack on him inside a moving car.
Simon McHugh caused scores of separate stab wounds – more than 20 just to his face and neck – to the body of driver Adam Suleman’s who miraculously survived the brutal assault on the Mapperley and Carlton border.
The victim tried to defend himself as the car they were in crashed into a wall outside the Co-op in Westdale Lane, in Carlton, causing the warring pair to stumble out.
Undeterred, the defendant continued to use the blade on his victim before fleeing and breaking into a stranger’s house in Burton Joyce where he told the terrified occupants he “had done something very bad and they would find out soon in the news”.
McHugh was helped during part of the offending by friend – Paige Tomlinson – who was this week sentenced with him at Nottingham Crown Court for the role she played.
And the day before all of the drama in Nottingham, McHugh tied up a woman and a child at an address in Ripley, Derbyshire.
Simon McHugh, 46, of Harrogate Road, Bakersfield, has been jailed for 19 years for attempted murder(Image: Nottinghamshire Police)
Handing him a 19-year sentence, Judge Mark Watson said: “This was a deeply worrying course of events and it has not been possible to determine why you behaved in the way you did.
“I am satisfied you travelled to (Mr Suleman’s) address and took a knife with you with a hostile intention.
“Your attempts to kill him came from a place of apparent calm, you told him ‘you will die today’ and then carried out what can only be described as a frenzied and sustained attack.
“It is by astonishing luck that none of the wounds struck his heart, there were 20 wounds just to his face and neck and 30 to his back.”
Prosecutor Jeremy Janes outlined in detail all of the offences in chronological order.
He said they began in Ripley in the early hours of May 5, last year, where McHugh tied a woman and child together first in a bedroom with a dressing gown cord and then back-to-back a kitchen chair with tape before leaving.
The prosecutor said from there, the defendant left and headed to Nottingham where the stabbing took place.
The court was told McHugh later turned up at one of Tomlinson’s friend’s houses where Mr Suleman also was.
He said: “There was no apparent difficulty that Adam noticed between himself and either Tomlinson or McHugh.
Police at the scene in Westdale Lane East, Carlton, following the stabbing(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
“McHugh and Tomlinson were close friends and, as is clear from text messages recovered during the investigation, that they ‘looked out’ for each other and had each other’s back.
“Tomlinson spent that afternoon (May 6) discussing and ultimately agreeing to assist and encourage some of the events that were to follow.”
Mr Janes said Tomlinson believed McHugh was going to rob and kidnap Mr Suleman, bring him back to an address and “torture” him and the defendant went to the victim’s Gedling address that evening in an Uber, which she had booked.
He said once there, McHugh asked Mr Suleman to take him to his mother’s address and he agreed.
The prosecutor said: “As they were driving along Adam did not notice anything unusual about McHugh’s manner and nothing was said that gave him any concern and certainly nothing that gave him any warning of what was to unfold.
“As they were driving his Audi A5 towards Westdale Lane and the Co-op at the bottom, McHugh said ‘Bomber (a nickname he used for Adam) you know you’re going to die today?’.
“Immediately as he said this, McHugh stabbed Adam some five times in his chest, whilst he was still driving.
A police cordon pictured in Westdale Lane East, Carlton, following the attack(Image: )
“The car was rolling towards a low wall near to the Co-Op, stopping as it contacted the wall.
“Adam described being scared, frightened and not understanding why all of this was happening.
“He had tried to grab the knife whilst they were still in the car, sustaining severe wounds to his hand in the process.
“He described McHugh as being in a rage and looking ‘demonic’ but not saying anything whilst he was stabbing him.”
Mr Janes said once the car had come to a stop, Mr Suleman tried to fight McHugh off, grabbing his arm in one hand and opening the passenger door with the other.
He said both men tumbled out where McHugh “renewed his attack on Adam, viciously stabbing many times to his face, neck, chest, back and legs and kicking him whilst he was defenceless on the ground”.
The prosecutor said: “Adam could recall McHugh cutting at his throat in a sawing style and saying, ‘just die’.”
Paige Tomlinson, 34, of Jessop’s Lane, Gedling, has been jailed for 18 months for assisting an offender (Image: Nottinghamshire Police)
Mr Janes said the police arrived, McHugh fled and Mr Suleman told him the defendant was responsible for the attack.
He said witnesses to the assault later gave statements including one man who claimed to have seen 200 stabbing motions and another who claimed 100, although neither could be confirmed, the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor said: “Another witness overheard McHugh saying ‘he’s touched one of my family’.”
He said the defendant then made his way to Burton Joyce where he broke into a couple’s home, waking them at 5am on May 7 and telling them he had “done something very bad and they would find out soon in the news”.
The prosecutor said McHugh then met Tomlinson and he was arrested outside his home in Harrogate Road, Bakersfield.
Mr Janes read out a victim impact statement made by Mr Suleman, who after the attack was taken to the QMC where he underwent several operations.
In it he said: “It has had a profound impact on him, he is 37 years old and struggles to do day-to-day tasks.
“He’s had flashbacks and at times feels worthless as a father.”
McHugh, a 46-year-old father, pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder, burglary and false imprisonment.
He has 12 previous convictions for 25 offences.
Sue Rodham, mitigating, said: “It was always accepted what his actions were, there is no dispute of the facts of the case.
“He has limited recollection of what happened and he just can’t understand why he behaved in the way he did that evening.
“Since his remand he is described as ‘a model prisoner’ who is quiet and polite.”
Tomlinson, 34, of Jessop’s Lane, Gedling, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and assisting an offender to commit kidnap and has four previous convictions for nine offences.
Rebecca Coleman, defending, said: “This is not a case where there was a calculated agreement between the parties.
“It was Miss Tomlinson who ultimately called the police and told them where her co-accused was shortly before he was arrested.”
Tomlinson was jailed for 18 months.