Mother slashed in face and neck by stranger with kitchen knife feared she was going to be raped

A mother who was slashed in the face and neck by a stranger while walking her baby in the pushchair said she feared she was going to be raped, a court heard today.

Josephine Conlon, then 36, was pushing her 21-month daughter along a residential street when she felt a ‘powerful’ shove to the floor and was stabbed in the face and neck by Mark Brazant, 44.

The brave mother-of-three recalled the knifeman crouched above her and said she only realised she was being stabbed when she felt blood across her body.

Mrs Conlon gave evidence at the Old Bailey today where Brazant is accused of attempted murder and wounding with intent.

She said: ‘I remember thinking he had pushed me into the driveway because he was going to rape me but he didn’t.

‘He just started to hit me and there were lots of blows. I think it was at that point that I realised I was being stabbed.

‘I was screaming a lot. I wanted someone to hear me. I was sucking and trying to get away after trying to get up onto my feet. He was above me, crouching above me.’

She told the court she felt as though she was being hit ‘with a fist’ and only realised she was being stabbed when she felt blood.

Mrs Conlon was allegedly attacked on this road in Streatham Hill in December of last year

When asked how she knew she had been stabbed, she said: ‘I think I could feel blood. I think the adrenaline took away any pain I could feel.’

When asked where she was hit, she said: ‘Along my chest, along my face and my ear. He kept hitting and stabbing my ear.’

From the floor, Mrs Conlon tried to defend herself with her hands, wearing gloves she was gifted for Christmas, the court heard.

She said: ‘I had some new gloves for Christmas. I was using my hands to try to hit him away.

‘I remember saying ‘what are you doing? What are you doing?’

‘I was trying to work out what it was he wanted. I said ‘tell me what you want, I have my bag, my phone.’

 The brave mother-of-three recalled the knifeman crouched above her and said she only realised she was being stabbed when she felt blood across her body.

Mrs Conlon along with her husband Greg and their 21-month-old daughter had been out at midday for lunch with her in-laws who were staying with them for Christmas from Australia.

They then went to a park together near Streatham Common before she left with her daughter to meet friends from a baby and toddler group at Blackbird Bakery.

They left when the bakery closed at around 5pm and she bought a toothbrush and called her mum on the walk home when she was attacked on a residential street.

In evidence, she told jurors she felt she was shoved her in her back twice, with what felt like two hands.

Describing the initial moments, she said: ‘I knew I was in danger. I can’t remember what happened before the second shove. I think I was stabilising myself and the buggy.

‘I think my phone had thrown out of my hand but I was holding the buggy still with my right hand.

‘I can remember being on the ground. I think I was on my back.’

She recalled lying on the ground on her back and her daughter’s buggy rolling towards the curb and a parked car and becoming wedged.

She underwent surgery for her wounds and remains under the care of a doctor for treatment to her face and neck, it was said.

The court also heard that Brazant was suffering from schizophrenia and denies he intended to kill her – despite handing himself into police three days later.

Brazant had been released from Thameside jail on Christmas Eve, just six days before the attack, the court heard.

He had been serving time for three counts of battery and one count of common assault.

Following his release, he had been staying in a support house for people suffering from mental health problems where staff reported him missing.

 Brazant admits stabbing but denies attempted murder. The trial continues.