Man who stabbed woman in the face and neck jailed
VICTIM KNIFED SEVEN TIMES AFTER BEING PICKED AT RANDOM
AN Ealing man has been jailed for life after stabbing a woman with a pram seven times in the face and neck.
Mark Brazant was sentenced on Wednesday September 16 to life with a minimum term of 11 years, and will initially serve his sentence in a secure hospital. If and when it is deemed appropriate, he will be moved to serve the remainder of the term in prison.
The 44-year-old picked the mother at random after travelling around London for hours on public transport looking for a victim.
The stabbing happened on December 30 last year in Downton Road, Streatham Hill, just days after Brazant had been released from jail.
He had a history of attacking lone women for no reason – he had previously carried out four assaults in one day.
Three days after the attack on the mother, following extensive media coverage, Brazant handed himself into a police station.
He was arrested and charged with attempted murder, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a pointed/bladed article on Thursday January 2. He eventually pleaded guilty to all charges.
Judge Angela Rafferty QC remarked on how courageous the victim was during both the attack and her appearance at court.
Acting Detective Sergeant Mark Pascall said: “I echo the judge’s comments and commend the victim for her bravery throughout the trial and courage to give evidence in front of the man who caused her serious harm.
“Brazant originally claimed he wasn’t in sound mind at the time, but his words and actions following the attack showed otherwise. It was clear Brazant had a clear intent that
day to cause harm. He is dangerous and unpredictable. We have no idea why he chose the victim he did but thankfully, and luckily, she wasn’t more seriously injured.
“I would like to thank the investigation team for extremely thorough enquiries that meant we were able to charge him so quickly and take him off the streets on London.”
During the trial the victim told the court she thought “he was going to rape me” but “then he didn’t, he just started hitting me”.
She then realised she was being stabbed but “I managed to get up on my feet and that’s when he turned and ran away”.