Shoppers tie up knifeman with clingfilm after he stabs young mum to death in Aldi
VICTIM ... AND GRANDFATHER WHO BUNDLED ATTACKER TO FLOOR
A BRAVE grandfather helped pin a bloodied knifeman to the floor of a supermarket after a mother was stabbed to death in the aisles.
With shoppers and staff, he bundled the attacker to the ground while a shop worker bound him with belts and clingfilm to ensure he couldn’t get away.
Moments earlier Jodie Willsher, 30, had been set upon as she laughed and joked with customers in the Aldi store where she worked.
Her husband Malcolm, 36, and daughter Megan, four, were being comforted by relatives in Skipton, North Yorkshire, yesterday. Her mother Nicole Dinsdale, 49, was said to be ‘utterly destroyed’.
Mr Willsher said: ‘She was lovely and warm and always had a smile on her face. She was amazing, beautiful and a lovely person. She was a doting mother and a loving wife.’
Friends said Mrs Willsher, who was reportedly wearing a Christmas jumper, had posted a video on Snapchat of her cuddling her daughter before going to work.
The suspect was reported locally to have been in a relationship with the victim’s mother until recently. A neighbour of Mrs Dinsdale said: ‘She has had some trouble with the boyfriend. I have been told it’s him who has attacked Jodie in Aldi.’
A family friend told The Sun: ‘It was her mum’s ex who has been arrested. It is just awful for the entire family. And just days before Christmas – they’ll never recover from this.’
Police were continuing to carry out forensic work at the supermarket in Skipton following the attack at around 3.30pm on Thursday.
Bricklayer Wilfrid Beattie, a 68year-old grandfather-of-eight, was shopping with his wife Susan when he heard a commotion and saw Mrs Willsher lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
He said another shopper had hold of the knifeman around the neck and Mr Beattie punched the attacker to help bring him down.
‘My first instinct was to lay in to him,’ he said. ‘We got him on the floor and wrapped a belt around his neck and one round his legs.
‘Then a member of staff came with a big roll of clingfilm and wrapped it around his legs so he couldn’t move.
‘The police then came, put the cuffs on him and took him away. He never said a word. He got to his feet and just looked at her.’
Mr Beattie said that he had regularly spoken to Mrs Willsher during shopping trips and described her as ‘a lovely lass who is always bubbly’.
She was given first aid as the store was evacuated, with the attack and the chaotic aftermath causing some shoppers to flee in a panic. One eyewitness said that she had ‘never been so scared in my life’. She recalled hearing ‘loads of screams’ then saw the victim lying on the floor and a man pinned down.
As police confirmed that Mrs Willshire had suffered multiple stab wounds, tributes to her poured in yesterday.
One close friend said: ‘Jodie was such a bright and bubbly personality. Everybody loved her. Her and Mal were the perfect couple, so in love with each other and just great people.’ Her cousin Chris Swales was among many friends and relatives to post social media tributes. He wrote: ‘ We lost a beautiful, fun-loving and caring person. How can life be so cruel?’
He added that the actions of ‘one person has left a husband without a wife and a little girl without her mother’.
Mrs Willsher had been married for six years and went to school in the market town, where she was well known.
Laura Anderson, a school friend who left flowers near the murder scene, said: ‘I’ve known Jodie pretty much all my life. You cannot meet a nicer person. She didn’t deserve this.’
She added: ‘She was so kind and loving. Her family was her whole world. Why did this have to happen?’
North Yorkshire Police said the victim’s family ‘are being supported by police officers while inquiries continue’.
Last night Neville Hord, 44, was charged with Mrs Willsher’s murder. He will appear before York magistrates today.
‘He never said a word’