A schizophrenic who tried to kill his girlfriend in a terrifying knife attack has been detained indefinitely under a hospital order.

Chloe Shimmin was stabbed more than 40 times by Oscar Romero-Perez after believing she was possessed by demons.

She bravely tried to fight him off as he repeatedly plunged a knife into her body and head at their home in South Street, Canterbury.

The 29-year-old victim could be heard in a harrowing recorded 999 call begging Romero-Perez, 24, to stop the onslaught as she told him she loved him.

She summoned up the strength to avoid being stabbed in the heart and was instead left with the blade sticking in her right ear.

Miss Shimmin was taken to hospital with multiple wounds, the most serious of which were to her lungs.

A jury accepted an unusual submission by the prosecution to find Romero-Perez, a Spanish national, not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity, so that he will continue to receive treatment at the Trevor Gibbens Unit in Maidstone.

“Killing a person is plainly wrong,” said prosecutor Peter Forbes. “Killing a demon is not.”

Maidstone Crown Court heard that the couple met on the internet in 2005.

In April, last year, he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. He was released from hospital with medication, which appeared to be effective.

But he started to behave oddly again and Miss Shimmin suspected he was not taking his medication and had lost contact with the mental health team.

On the morning of September 18, last year, Miss Shimmin went home after a night shift as a carer and found Romero-Perez acting strangely, making growling noises. He punched her in the face and pinned her on the bed.

She suffered the frenzied attack while calling the police. Officers arrived and Romero-Perez was restrained.