A PUB chef who admitted killing an Oxfordshire teaching assistant has been jailed for life.

Robert Cusworth, 25, of Levings Close, Aylesbury, pleaded guilty to murdering Sally Garwood while she was walking her dog in a town park on July 11 last year.

Mrs Garwood, who lived with her husband Simon and worked with autistic children at Lord Williams’s School, Thame, bled to death following what was described as a “frenzied attack”.

At a hearing at Reading Crown Court yesterday, Cusworth was told he would serve a minimum of 20 years less the 200 days he had spent in custody.

The court heard Cusworth had gone to a supermarket instead of working a shift at a pub on the evening of Friday, July 11, and bought a stainless steel kitchen knife.

Neil Moore, prosecuting, said: “That Friday night, he went with it concealed in his hooded top looking, as he later admitted, for someone to use it on.”

“The following afternoon he returned again and for no apparent reason selected Sally Garwood as his victim.”

Mrs Garwood was attacked from behind, receiving 26 separate wounds to her head and neck. She was left bleeding in a stream.

Her terrier, Billy, was sitting by her side when she was found by a jogger.

The school did not wish to comment on the case yesterday, but earlier headteacher David Wybron described Mrs Garwood as “warm-hearted, caring and full of fun” and said: “We will all miss her company and support.”