{
    my @records;
    local $/; # allow to read in whole file
    for(split /\s*\|--------------------------------------\|\s*/, <DATA>) {
        my %rec;
        next unless /\S/; #check for data
        for(split "\n", $_) { # split up the datum in a record
            my($key,$val) = split ':', $_, 2; # split the datum, the ,2 limits split to 
                    #only splitting the string into at most 2 pieces, saving further :
            $rec{$key} = $val; #store in hash
        }
        push @records, \%rec; # store recs in array
    }
    for(@records) { #iterate and print, you get the idea
        print "$_->{Date}\n";
    }
}

__DATA__
|--------------------------------------|

Date: today
Request: text here text here text here
Name: Joe Bloggs
Tel: 0123 45677
email: joebloggs@bloggs.com

|--------------------------------------|

Date: Today
Request: text here text here text here
Name: John Smith
Tel: 0123 45677
email: johnsmith@smith.com

|--------------------------------------|