A deranged Tinder stalker who stabbed his ex-girlfriend 11 times and doused her in petrol left a message scrawled on the victim's bathroom mirror minutes before the attack.
Paul Dennis Lambert, 36, was shot dead by police after he violently attacked Dr Angela Jay at her home in Port Macquarie, on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, in 2016.
An inquest into Lambert's death on Friday revealed he wrote the message 'I love Paul' on Dr Jay's mirror in the lead up to a horrific sequence of events.
Paul Dennis Lambert, 36, was shot at the end of a high-speed police pursuit after he stabbed his ex-girlfriend and doused her in petrol at her Port Macquarie home in NSW in 2016
Dr Angela Jay (pictured) managed to break free from his grasp and she fled to her next door neighbour's house screaming for help
According to court documents seen by The Sydney Morning Herald, Lambert broke into Ms Jay's home and stashed duct tape, cable ties and knives in her bedroom drawer on November 3, 2016.
The 36-year-old then hid in a cupboard and waited for Dr Jay, who arrived home for dinner about 5pm.
When Dr Jay walked into her bedroom, Lambert sprung from the cupboard and launched his attack, while clamping his hand over her mouth.
Dr Jay tried to break free, but Lambert reached for a knife, which he plunged into her chest, arms and legs, before he doused her in fuel.
The slipperiness of the fluid enabled Dr Jay to eventually break free from his grasp and she fled to her next door neighbour's house screaming for help.
Following the attack, Lambert fled the scene and drove north before he called Dr Jay's phone and spoke to paramedics.
When the ambulance officer answered the phone, Lambert asked 'how is she?' and said 'I didn't mean to do it'.
In a series of follow-up messages and calls to other family members and police, Lambert said he'd stabbed Dr Jay, tried to set her alight, and threatened self-harm.
Police eventually caught up with Lambert after a high speed car chase on the Pacific Highway near Coffs Harbour.
Former workmates of Lambert said the man had struggled with mental illness, and described him as 'not right in the head' and said he told them he had been 'hearing voices'
Police managed to force Lambert off the Pacific Highway near Coffs Harbour after chasing him 150km along the stretch of road (pictured, Angela Jay)
A dramatic six-minute stand-off ensued, which came to a bloody end when Lambert lunged at officers and they shot him dead.
The traumatised policeman who shot dead Lambert later said he wished he could have swapped places with the knifeman.
Acting State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan ruled shooting Lambert was unavoidable given his actions and said it 'deeply affected' the officers who pulled the trigger.
'Senior Constable Damien Buckley said he reflects on the death every day and desperately wishes that there could have been a different outcome and that he could have ''sent Paul home'' to his family,' the judgement read.
'He even said he wishes he could have ''swapped spots'' with Mr Lambert.'
The NSW coronial inquest found police had no choice but to shoot dead the 'toxic' Tinder stalker.
'I do not consider there was any available alternative to lethal force,' Coroner O'Sullivan said.
'Senior Constable Damien Buckley (pictured in purple) said he reflects on the death every day and desperately wishes that there could have been a different outcome and that he could have ''sent Paul home'' to his family,' the judgement reads
Acting State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan ruled shooting Lambert was unavoidable given his actions and it 'deeply affected' the officers who pulled the trigger, the coroner found
Lambert was on parole at the time of the attack after he assaulted his previous partner in Queensland.
Coroner O'Sullivan said the only other way Lambert could have been stopped from attacking Dr Jay is if communication was better between Queensland and NSW.
She said Lambert had been in breach of his parole conditions when he lived in NSW.
Had Queensland Police issued an arrest warrant, Lambert could have been arrested when he was pulled over for speeding only a few days before the attack happened against Dr Jay.
Though Coroner O'Sullivan said it wasn't her role to examine the state's parole system.
Lambert began dating mid north Coast doctor Angela Jay long-distance after matching with her on Tinder in August 2016.
The relationship, which lasted less than two months, deteriorated after Lambert became 'controlling and possessive', threatened suicide,
