31/05/2005

Tracker dogs used in hunt for Abigail’s attacker

A team of police tracker dogs are being used to search the area where Abigail Witchalls was stabbed last month.

The team of four dogs, brought in from Dyfed Powys and Yorkshire police forces, are searching the area in Little Bookham, Surrey, where Abigail was attacked.

The dogs were last used in Surrey during the hunt for schoolgirl Milly Dowler in 2002.

A spokesperson for Surrey Police said that the dogs had been brought in following new information, which had been received. The spokesperson said that the police now had “specific knowledge” of the things they would use the dogs to search for, including the weapon used in the attack.

Abigail, 26, was stabbed in the neck as she returned from a mothers and toddlers meeting with her 21-month-old son Joseph on April 20. The attacker held a knife to Joseph’s throat before attacking Abigail.

Abigail was left paralysed following the attack, although she is beginning to regain some sensation in her body. Her family issued a statement today, which said that although Abigail was still “severely disabled”, she was continuing to make “encouraging progress” and was “facing the future with hope”. The statement said that her husband Benoit, 26, and Joseph were now spending more time with her and were beginning to rebuild their family life.

It has also been reported that police will show Abigail a picture of one of the suspects in the case later this week. Twenty-three-year-old Richard Cazaly left Little Bookham and travelled to Scotland following the attack on Abigail. He later died of a suspected overdose.

(KMcA)


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29 April 2005
Police granted more time to question Abigail suspect
Surrey police have been granted more time to question a 25-year-old man in connection with the stabbing of Abigail Witchalls last week. The man was arrested on Wednesday evening in Croydon, south London and is being held in custody at Staines police station. Police will now be able to question him until Saturday morning.
28 April 2005
Police arrest man in Abigail case
A 25-year-old Surrey man has been arrested in connection with the attack of Abigail Witchalls, police have confirmed. Surrey police confirmed that the man had been arrested last night, but said that the arrest was “only one line of inquiry” and said that police were still following up other information.
04 May 2005
Abigail transferred to spinal injuries unit
Abigail Witchalls, the young mother who was stabbed in the neck in a horrific attack two weeks ago, has been transferred to a specialist spinal injuries unit. The 26-year-old had been in St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south London since the attack, which left her paralysed.
26 April 2005
Abigail’s attacker held knife to son’s throat
The man who stabbed young mother Abigail Witchalls in the neck first held a knife to the throat of her 21-month-old son Joseph, police said. Mrs Witchalls, who is still in St Georges Hospital in south London, following the attack in Little Bookham, Surrey, last Wednesday, gave her statement to the police yesterday.
10 June 2005
New witness in Abigail stabbing case
Police have confirmed that a new witness has come forward in the investigation into the stabbing of Abigail Witchalls. The development emerged after Abigail, who is still being treated in hospital following the attack in April, had failed to pick out suspect Richard Cazaly in a photo identity parade.