RANDOM HAMMER
Mother and daughter fight for lives after stranger bludgeons them in street then rides off on bike
A MOTHER and daughter were fighting for their lives last night after being repeatedly bludgeoned with a hammer by a stranger in the street.
The victims, aged 64 and 30, were both in a critical condition following the attack yesterday at lunchtime.
Detectives arrested 27-year- old Joe Xuereb last night on suspicion of attempted murder.
Police officers had even taken the unusual step of naming him as a suspect earlier in the day – while they were still hunting for him.
Witnesses described how a hammerwielding attacker swung his weapon at the two women, leaving the daughter so badly injured that ‘ her face was hanging off’, in yet another example of Wild West Britain.
They said the assailant had left the scene in Eltham, south- east London ‘calmly on a pushbike’.
Officers were called at 12.10pm and found the two women, who reportedly did not know their attacker, with severe injuries and ‘covered in blood’.
Neighbours went to help the mother and daughter even though the suspect was still swinging his hammer around in
‘Life-changing injuries’
the street. One female resident, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It was horrific. Her face was hanging off, I was trying to put her face back together.
‘They were definitely life-changing injuries. She was hit in the face and the head, and the other woman was hit in the head. I’m worried they won’t survive.’
The woman said that the attacker was still in the road while she bandaged up the face of one of the victims, adding: ‘ When you have two women laid out on the pavement, what do you do? Anyone would do it.
One of the women was choking on her own blood so we sat her up. She was in an out of consciousness.’
She added: ‘I feel sick, if you saw it on telly you’d turn it off.’
A man who called an ambulance for the victims described how neighbours rushed to the pair’s aid. Bob Gover, 69, heard a scream outside his window as a passer-by saw the mother and daughter with devastating injuries.
The retired TV engineer said: ‘I heard a bit of a commotion, I looked outside and there was about half a dozen people out there. I went out there and I saw blood on the face of one of them and I knew something had happened so I ran inside and phoned for an ambulance. They were both covered in blood.’
The younger woman’s partner was at her side attempting to comfort her when the ambulance arrived, he said.
Another neighbour described the attacker ‘calmly’ swinging the hammer in the street while his victims lay bleeding on the ground.
She said: ‘I heard screams, it sounded like kids. Then I looked out of the window and saw them covered in blood.
‘A lot of people were helping them. Blood was pouring out of their heads. And he was there swinging his hammer.’ She added that he started hitting a brick wall before he ‘got on his pushbike and calmly cycled away from the scene’. She said the two victhrough.’ tims were not believed to live locally, and were visiting friends in the area.
Another resident who asked not to be named, said: ‘It’s just awful. I don’t think they were from here. I heard they were just walking She added: ‘I heard a lot of screaming, but didn’t see what happened.’ After the attack, police had released a picture of Xuereb, who lives nearby in Greenwich, and said he was believed to have mental health issues and should not be approached by members of the public.
It is highly unusual for officers to name a suspect prior to an arrest.
He was then caught at 7.30pm in Sidcup – about two miles away from the attack.
Police said the suspect was arrested as a direct result of the media appeal.
Officers received a number of calls and one brave woman even followed the man in her car until police had detained him. A hammer was recovered from the scene which was ‘believed to have been used in the assault’, a police spokesman said.
Detective Superintendent Jane Corrigan said: ‘I would like to pass my thanks to the public and the media for all their support.’
He added: ‘I am extremely proud of my colleagues and the community, who have all done so much to bring this part of the investigation to a safe resolution.
‘It shows what can be achieved when we all work together.’
Xuereb’s home had been cordoned off by detectives last night.
‘They were covered in blood’