Woman Attacked With Claw Hammer After Ex Watches Netflix Show "You"

A woman in the UK attacked her ex-girlfriend with a claw hammer, apparently inspired by the Netflix series You, which depicts a serial killer. Chloe James, 27, was watching the thriller when she told her partner, Chloe Coehlo, 21: "If you ever finish with me, I'll turn into him," referring to the show's violent protagonist, Joe (played by Penn Badgley). And two years later, she made good on the threats. 

When the pair split up in September 2020, James asked Coehlo if they could take one last walk in the countryside with their dog. When Cohelo's back was turned, James got a claw hammer from the trunk of her car and hit Coehlo over the head repeatedly, causing her to fall to the ground covered in her own blood. The attack only ended when another car drove by. James initially said she was acting in self-defense. But she pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm on the day her trial was set to begin. 

James ultimately received a 22-month suspended jail sentence, which Coehlo criticized. "I was utterly devastated when she got a suspended sentence," she told the UK Sun. "It was an absolute joke. I felt like I had been assaulted all over again." "I now realize Chloe was being serious that night we watched You," she said. "We went for a walk and got back to our cars. She begged me to go for a drive and tried to kiss me and told me she loved me. But I pushed her away and told her it was over between us for good. She told me she had something in her car for me but was embarrassed to give it to me."

Coehlo related what happened next. "Then she told me to close my eyes. Seconds later I felt this searing pain in my head—like my skull was being smashed in. I fell to the ground and could see she had a claw hammer in her hand. I was covered in my own blood. I thought I was going to die." James said, "If I can't have you, no one else will," Coehlo added. "She said I'd be left disabled and nobody would want me. I kept begging her to stop because I was absolutely terrified."

After James ran from the scene, Coehlo managed to flag down a passing car. "It was pitch black and I could see a car coming towards me," she said. "I somehow found the strength and got to my feet and made a run towards it. The driver stopped and I begged him to help me. I was delirious with the blood loss and shock and lost consciousness." Coehlo was treated in the hospital for bruising and lacerations to her ears and scalp. James was arrested the next day. 

Coehlo said she's been left with lasting physical and psychological issues, including deafness in one ear. She was obsessed with me," Coehlo said. "I now have constant headaches and horrible flashbacks of that night, and trusting someone again has been very, very difficult. "I paid a high price for having a relationship with her. I am just glad I am still alive."