Knife attacker changes plea to guilty despite hung jury
A VIOLENT offender who stabbed a young mother in the face and neck days after his release from prison has admitted that he was trying to kill her.
Mark Brazant, 44, set upon Josephine Conlon, 36, as she was pushing her baby in a pram in Streatham, south London, in December.
Brazant stabbed her seven times in the face and neck before running off. At his trial, he had denied intent to seriously injure Mrs Conlon and a jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict, despite 40 hours of deliberations.
However, Brazant changed his plea yesterday and admitted attempted murder after the prosecution had called for a retrial. The original trial was told Brazant, who has paranoid schizophrenia, had a history of attacking lone women for no reason. He had pleaded guilty last year to three charges of battery and one of common assault and was jailed but released on licence from Thameside Prison on Christmas Eve.
Brazant was reported missing after he failed to turn up at a supported house where he was meant to stay.
On Dec 30, Mrs Conlon was attacked while returning home after meeting other new mothers at a local bakery.
She told jurors: “I remember thinking he had pushed me into the driveway because he was going to rape me but he just started hitting me. I realised I was being stabbed … I could feel blood. The adrenalin took away the pain but I could feel things dripping. I managed to get up on my feet and that’s when he turned and ran away.”
She was discharged from hospital the next day but continues to have treatment for scars to her face and neck.
Brazant, of Ealing, west London, denied intending to kill, saying he heard voices telling him to hurt someone but later changed his plea. The court heard he was on medication for his mental health condition but had stopped taking it when the offence took place.
He was remanded in custody while awaiting his sentence due next month.