He had the knife and was just slashing at my neck
MAN LUCKY TO ESCAPE WITH LIFE AFTER ONLINE DATE TURNED OUT TO BE CONVICTED MURDERER
He had the knife and was just slashing at my neck. I was bleeding to death Mark Cavanagh
MARK Cavanagh hoped to find love when he signed up to an internet dating network.
After the death from illness of his long-term partner in 2011, he felt ready to commit again. Ready to build a loving, lasting and real relationship.
But unbeknown to him the man he met was a convicted murderer – and Mark was lucky to escape with his life.
Steven Lund, 63, was jailed for 27 years this week after subjecting Mark, 51, to an horrific knife attack in his Ardwick flat.
He awoke in bed to find Lund standing over him, glaring at himself almost trance-like with a knife after he had slashed his throat.
Wearing just a towel and covered in blood, Mark fought him off in a desperate struggle that ended up in a corridor of his flat complex – then ran out into the street to beg for help.
A graphic CCTV image captures the extent of the horror as Mark fights for his life – an image he has bravely agreed for the M.E.N. to publish. Lund then calmly got dressed and walked away, leaving Mark for dead as a stranger gave him CPR.
Lund – who was jailed for life for murdering a lorry driver in 1980 in almost identical circumstances – had been freed from prison on licence but had breached the terms of his release and was a wanted man.
The manipulative liar told Mark in their online chats that his wife had died from cancer.
He said he owned a picturesque house in Ullswater, Cumbria, and drove two Jaguars – all cruel fabrications conjured up to lure loving Mark into his trap.
In an exclusive interview with the M.E.N., Mark recalled the horror and bravely revealed how he hoped to rebuild his life to one day find genuine love.
He also issued a chilling warning to others over online dating.
Lund, who used many aliases and has convictions for fraud and deception, posed as ‘Stewart.’ “I just wanted to see if I could meet someone,” Mark recalled.
“I think it was the first time I had decided to do something like that since my partner’s death. I thought that I would give it a go and was looking for someone to commit to a relationship. I had dated but there had been nothing serious or deep.
“I remember there were three pictures on his profile. One was of him in Llandudno, Wales.
“I remember seeing the pier. He created a detailed back story and told me a pack of lies.”
They exchanged messages. Lund told Mark he was 56. Mark, who works with the NHS in patient rehabilitation, said he liked him: “He said he was outgoing and adventurous and said that he liked to go on holiday,” he recalled.
“We had chatted about his life.
“He said he had lost his wife to throat cancer three years ago so I mentioned my partner passing away. wasn’t about sex at all.
“My intentions were to find a partner and he said that his intention was the same.
“I thought he just wanted to meet someone and settle down. That’s how he came across – like me.
“There was nothing that you could predict. I was just that unlucky person.”
Lund surprised Mark by arriving in Ardwick one night just 48 hours before the attack on December 21, 2016.
They had only started to chat online days earlier.
Mark admits that he shouldn’t have given him his mobile phone number. Lund continued to make contact.
“I got back from work and the next minute my phone rang,” he said of the night of the attack.
“He said he knew that I was in because the lights came on. He must have been hanging around.”
They had dinner and watched a film, drinking orange juice and coffee.
“We went to bed, had consensual sex and fell asleep,” Mark said.
“I woke up and it was like someone had pinched my neck hard at the back. He was stood over me next to the bed. I asked him what he was doing and he said his nails were too long and they had caught my neck.
“I felt a warm sensation and I saw the knife. I shouted at him and said ‘what have you done to me?’ “He was glaring at me like he was in a trance. “He was telling me not to panic. I got up out of bed and he had me in a headlock. He had the knife and was just slashing at my neck.
“I pushed him away and ran to the front door. We started to grapple in the hall. There was that much blood that I couldn’t get a grip. He put his fingers in my mouth and was pulling at my jaw.
“I was naked and bleeding to death.”
Mark said he managed to get a towel but the attack continued and Lund said he would kill him.
“I was shouting and screaming and banging on the walls. It was just sheer panic.
“I did not know what had happened to my neck but I did think that he was going to kill me.
“Adrenaline kicked in and I knew that I had to stop him.
“I was fighting him off with the towel and pushing him back.”
Mark said that Lund suddenly went back into his flat.
He took his chance and ran outside, managing to reach a Tesco store at around 6.30am where the alarm was raised and he was treated.
He needed 32 staples to his neck and was in hospital for two weeks. Lund fled to Great Yarmouth, where he was arrested.
Mark told how he’s slowly making a recovery.
He attended last weekend’s Pride festival in Manchester but said he’s still wary of others.
He called for more to be done to improve security of online dating sites and urged others to be wary.
“I was not about sex,” Mark said. “It was about trying to find a life partner. I will just have to learn to trust again.
“I am not interested in seeing anyone at the moment but I hope that changes.
“Hopefully it will.”