City worker attacked with hammer ‘was showing flat to mum’
A HAMMER-wielding man struck a City worker and her mother 19 times, a court heard yesterday.
Ania Gos, 30, was showing 64year- old Marianna HoelinakGos her flat when both received life-changing injuries after they were beaten from behind as they took photos in the street.
Details of the 50-second assault at noon on Sunday in New Eltham, south-east London, emerged yesterday as their alleged attacker made his first court appearance.
Police were shocked by the ferocity of the attack, with one calling it the worst in his 30-year career.
Both women yesterday remained in a ‘stable but critical’ condition in hospital. Miss Gos’s sister told a local newspaper: ‘She is lovely. There is no reason for anyone to hurt her. My mother is in an even worse condition.’
Joe Xuereb, 27, appeared at Bromley Magistrates’ Court in south- east London to face two charges of attempted murder and a third of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
Outlining details of the attacks, Denise Clewes, prosecuting, said: ‘The assault took place outside a flat on August 19. The two victims were approached by him from behind. The younger woman was struck six times and the older woman 13 times with a claw hammer which was later retrieved.
‘The defendant was arrested in Sidcup, two miles away.
‘Both women are in hospital in a stable but critical condition, and they have both suffered life-changing injuries.’
There was no application for bail for Xuereb. District Judge Nigel Dean told the defendant he was being remanded into custody until his next appearance at the Old Bailey on September 18.
The attack took place outside the one-bedroom flat Polish-born Miss Gos bought for £173,000 in July 2015. Her mother was visiting her from Poland at the time.
Witnesses have described how, having left the scene, the assailant returned, apparently intending to harm the victims further as passers-by tried to help them. He is said to have ‘calmly’ stalked the bloody scene swinging his hammer as residents gave first aid.
One neighbour said: ‘The guy who attacked them was raining down blow after blow on their heads and faces. They were screaming. After he finished he walked down the road.’ But the man then returned, he said, adding: ‘He was in an aggressive mood and looked as though he wanted to attack them again, but neighbours told him to go. He got his bicycle and calmly cycled away.’
Miss Gos, who has a master’s degree in history from the University of Lodz in Poland, works at London’s Canary Wharf in financial services at S&P Global – formerly McGraw Hill Financial – where she received a WOW! award, a national prize that rewards excellent customer service.