I’ll always cherish her goodbye kiss, says husband
SENSELESS ATTACK 2
A KNIFEMAN faces life in jail after he stabbed a City worker and left her for dead in an act of ‘pure evil’.
Business analyst Qing Qing Rao, 30, was walking home from work when Barry Peacham attacked her just minutes from her home.
Weapons- obsessed Peacham, 26, plunged a knife into her head before stealing her handbag, mobile and laptop.
Miss Rao, was found lying unconscious by a path in Castle Green Park in Dagenham, east London, having suffered ‘catastrophic’ injuries.
Since the attack on February 13, she has been in a vegetative state and is considered ‘extremely unlikely’ ever to recover, jurors were told.
Peacham was found guilty of wounding with intent and robbery following a trial at the Old Bailey yesterday, but cleared of attempted murder.
He had denied the charges against him and claimed someone else was responsible.
Miss Rao’s husband, Ansgar Wenzel, described his wife of six months, who was born in rural China, as a ‘wonderful, warmhearted and happy girl’.
They met at Imperial College London, where Miss Rao had studied mathematics, and had been together for a decade.
He said: ‘I would not miss a single day of the almost ten years we have shared.
‘I will always remember how she smiled and turned her head laughing on the morning of February 13 when she left for work. The goodbye kiss is one I will always cherish.’
After attacking Miss Rao, who worked in Finsbury Square in central London, Peacham had gone back to his home nearby, where he was described as being out of breath, wearing gloves, with a rip in his jeans and walking with a limp.
Peacham, a gardener, held previous convictions involving knives dating back as far as 2008, including for possession of an offensive weapon in public, robbery, and assault with intent to rob.
Following his conviction, he was remanded in custody until his sentencing on November 24.
Detective Chief Inspector Gary Holmes, of Scotland Yard, said of the case: ‘To me this is a crime of pure evil.
‘Peacham is one of the most dangerous men I have ever dealt with in my police career, which spans over 28 years.’