2005-04-27 20:04:59
Detectives investigating the stabbing of young mother Abigail Witchalls have received more than 300 calls after police made fresh appeals for information.
Mrs Witchalls has given police chilling details of what happened to her as she pushed her son in a buggy along a rural path near her home in Surrey.
The 26-year-old has been left paralysed by the attack but is managing to communicate with her family and the officers leading the investigation through blinking.
Stab told them how her attacker grabbed her 21-month-old son Joseph and held a knife against his throat before plunging the blade into the back of her neck in the horrific attack in Little Bookham, Surrey.
Mrs Witchalls said she saw her attacker sitting in a blue four-door estate at around 3.45pm.
He is described as pale, aged 20-35 with a long thin face and looped silver earrings.
He is 5ft 10-6ft 4ins tall with short, dark, wavy and scruffy hair, a deep voice and a London or southern accent.
Police have said he is an "extremely dangerous offender" who should not be approached, instead contact Surrey Police on 0845 1252222
She told them she had tried to run away from the man, who appeared to be under the influence of drink or drugs, after becoming scared by his presence in the quiet road where she was taking Joseph for a walk.
Mrs Witchalls started to panic and ran along the lane but could not open the gate at the end.
She heard him say something like "you have dropped your purse".
When she looked, he had grabbed Joseph and was holding a knife to his throat.
The man signalled for her to come towards him and then grabbed her hair, pulled her towards the ground and stabbed her once in the back of the neck.
He then pushed Joseph's buggy on top of her before running off.
This is an incredibly sad story, and yet the sheer courage of the woman who was stabbed is an inspiration to us all.
What particularly struck me as 'additionally sad' is the fact that I could not remember her name; I searched on Google for woman stabbed in neck to get the news, and there was a list of at least six world wide stories about women having been stabbed in the neck.
Is society becoming more dangerous to live in, or have we better access to stories, because of the wide and permanently up to date state of the news ?
Mrs Witchalls has given police chilling details of what happened to her as she pushed her son in a buggy along a rural path near her home in Surrey.
The 26-year-old has been left paralysed by the attack but is managing to communicate with her family and the officers leading the investigation through blinking.
Stab told them how her attacker grabbed her 21-month-old son Joseph and held a knife against his throat before plunging the blade into the back of her neck in the horrific attack in Little Bookham, Surrey.
Mrs Witchalls said she saw her attacker sitting in a blue four-door estate at around 3.45pm.
He is described as pale, aged 20-35 with a long thin face and looped silver earrings.
He is 5ft 10-6ft 4ins tall with short, dark, wavy and scruffy hair, a deep voice and a London or southern accent.
Police have said he is an "extremely dangerous offender" who should not be approached, instead contact Surrey Police on 0845 1252222
She told them she had tried to run away from the man, who appeared to be under the influence of drink or drugs, after becoming scared by his presence in the quiet road where she was taking Joseph for a walk.
Mrs Witchalls started to panic and ran along the lane but could not open the gate at the end.
She heard him say something like "you have dropped your purse".
When she looked, he had grabbed Joseph and was holding a knife to his throat.
The man signalled for her to come towards him and then grabbed her hair, pulled her towards the ground and stabbed her once in the back of the neck.
He then pushed Joseph's buggy on top of her before running off.
This is an incredibly sad story, and yet the sheer courage of the woman who was stabbed is an inspiration to us all.
What particularly struck me as 'additionally sad' is the fact that I could not remember her name; I searched on Google for woman stabbed in neck to get the news, and there was a list of at least six world wide stories about women having been stabbed in the neck.
Is society becoming more dangerous to live in, or have we better access to stories, because of the wide and permanently up to date state of the news ?
