Ex-footballer launches furious knife attack during drunken game of Truth or Dare

A man launched a ferocious knife attack on his partner and her sister after a drunken game of Truth or Dare. Samuel Nhamburo had been out in Manchester city centre on December 18, 2022 with the women and a male friend before going back home to Levenshulme.

Nhamburo, 26, and the man went to get more alcohol from the shop before returning. They then started playing drinking games.

During a game of Truth or Dare, his partner was asked if she had met anyone through a dating app. She chose not to answer, instead taking a drink, Manchester Crown Court heard.

READ MORE: Five double vodkas and two pints of beer before the chaos began

Nhamburo attacked her and dragged her to the floor. As the others restrained him, she was able to move away before Nhamburo ran to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of large knives.

Mark Friend, prosecuting, said: “He stabbed her [sister of partner] to the side, with the knife left embedded in her. He then stabbed his partner several times.

“The defendant’s own sister returned home after having visited a friend after work. The defendant opened the door and his sister observed that he was still holding a knife.

“She asked what had happened, and he did not reply. She saw his partner inside with her head slumped over and she began screaming.”

As the police arrived, Nhamburo fled to the bathroom and locked himself inside, still armed with the knife. Officers were able to break down the door and told him to drop the blade.

He didn't, so officers sprayed him with CS spray, before he stabbed. Nhamburo was arrested and taken to hospital. He later claimed he had no memory of the attack.

Both women were rushed to hospital and given emergency treatment. The sister of his partner was left with a 14cm wound to her side, though fortunately there was no internal damage.

His partner suffered damage to her diaphragm, abdomen, gall bladder, the right side of her liver, as well as internal bleeding in her chest. She also suffered a wound to her back and her thigh. The was remained in hospital for over two weeks.

In a statement, his partner said: “Whilst I was in hospital I was in severe pain and suffered from nightmares. I no longer feel confident in my own body because of the scars.

“I was off work for six months which impacted me financially. I started therapy and I was diagnosed with PTSD. I no longer feel the world is a safe place.

“I have had to move house to get away, as I don’t want him to know where I live. I’m fearful he will come and find me and finish what he started.”

She later added that she had to leave her job because she was frightened. “What Samuel did to me has negatively affected every part of my life,” she said.

Her sister said in a statement she was in a lot of pain while in hospital and didn’t know whether her sister was going to live. She said she has since been diagnosed with PTSD.

The court heard from two doctors about the state of Nhamburo’s mental health. They said he suffered from a schizoaffective disorder, though said he was functioning well on the ward at the Cygnet Hospital in Bury.

“From the very first records of him being in hospital, he has consistently said that he has no memory of what happened. He has no memory of what happened from going into the shop to waking up in the hospital,” Vanessa Thomson, mitigating, said.

“He expresses sorrow and regret for what happened.”

She said Nhamburo moved from Zimbabwe to the UK in his childhood, but struggled with problems at home and school. He amassed a career in football, playing for a non-league team in the Scotland before relocating to England.

He met his ex-partner, the victim of the offence, and though the relationship was initially good, his father’s death in 2020 saw Nhamburo suffer with a number of mental health issues.

Ms Thomson said that he began to hear voices telling him to harm himself and had taken an overdose the year before. She added: “There were significant mental health issues at the time of the offence.”

Sentencing, Judge John Potter said: “You immediately stabbed her in such a ferocious assault that the knife remained inside her. You then attacked your partner causing multiple and serious stab wounds.

“It was ferocious, appalling and truly shocking. Both victims are fortunate not to have died, such was the severity of the attack.”

Nhamburo, of Old Lane, Openshaw, was sentenced to a 15 year section 45A hospital order. He will remain in hospital where he will continue receiving mental health treatment before being taken to custody where he will serve two thirds of his sentence before being released on licence.