A HAMPSHIRE man with a history of harassing women has been jailed after stabbing a lover through the heart after luring her on the dance floor.

Controlling John Mills pulled a knife on girlfriend Michelle Blundell when she threatened to leave him, stabbing her twice after asking where she would like to die.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how in the last three years manipulative Mills preyed on at least six women, making their lives hell when they dumped him.

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On one occasion he even called the employer of one ex-partner, falsely claiming she had HIV, in an act of revenge against her.

Yesterday the 62-year-old, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder, was told he would be caged for ten years and a judge warned any future partners would be at “grave risk” of harm.

The court was told how Mills, who used to live in Eastleigh, had stabbed Michelle, his lover of six weeks, twice in the heart when she told him their relationship was over.

As with all his other relationships, the pair had met at a dance class, and soon Mills began to put pressure on the relationship, making the 45-year-old, from Portsmouth, feel “smothered”.

Six weeks later, on April 15, Mrs Bundell, a divorced mum-of-two, decided to end it with Mills, as they were driving to a dance class and asked to go home. But instead he drove her to his caravan in Church Road, Fareham, when he tried to persuade her to take him back, threatening to kill himself.

The pair spent the night together but when she went to leave in the morning he pulled out a knife from his fleece pocket and said “you have made your decision”

before asking her “where do you want this to happen?”

Prosecutor Iain Wicks told the court than Mills told Mrs Bundell he “wanted them to be found dead together in a lovers death pact”.

Brandishing the sharp fishing knife, he said to her: “You have broken me, it’s not your fault.

“It’s things that have happened in the past.”

It was only Mrs Bundell’s quick thinking that enabled her to escape from the caravan, but he caught up with her and during the struggle he stabbed her twice in the heart.

Judge Richard Price said that it was only thanks to the bravery of three members of the public, Kevin Dixon, Simon James and Gordon Robinson, who rushed to her rescue, that she is still alive today.

Taking into account his history of harassment with previous partners, Mills was sentenced to ten years in prison and told he would be on licence for five years after his release.