KNIFE ATTACK VICTIM IN CAMPAIGN APPEAL

Justice fight ‘loneliest road’ for Ruth

A WOMAN is appealing to the Government for a campaign that shows the devastating effects of knife crime.

Ruth Maxwell was walking to the Luas at the Red Cow in Dublin’s Clondalkin at 6.40am on May 16, 2016, when her attacker, armed with a hunting knife, put his arms around her neck.

She said she thought he was going to slit her throat and she managed to grab the blade.

It cut tendons in three of her fingers. She broke free and began screaming and her attacker ran off.

She told 2FM: “In the left hand was a cloth trying to get to my face, in the other hand was a knife at my chin.

“Witin seconds the knife had come down on my throat. I grabbed the blade of the knife. Even then I didn’t think my life was going to change dramatically.

“I had multiple surgeries but the damage was done. I never got the full movement back in my hand.”

Ruth said seeking justice and the subsequent trial was probably the “loneliest road” she had ever been on, adding: “There was nobody there to guide me through the whole process and to give me the tool to pick up the pieces afterwards.

“For younger offenders I do think the Scottish approach, which is all about prevention and early intervention, should be introduced here.

“That could be taken on board with Restorative Justice. And in a communityled proactive trauma programme, led by Department of Justice and An Garda Siochana, Safe Ireland can become the umbrella group for all victims of crime so there is somewhere you can go immediately after something has happened and guide you through the whole process right up until after the appeal hearing.”

And with 999 knives seized by gardai so far this year, and 44% found on young people aged 12 to 23, Ruth said this is

ORDEAL Ms Maxwell a “frightening statistic”. She added: “As a society we can’t allow this kind of knife crime to be normalised.

“We have a responsibility to intervene at this critical stage of their lives – they are very young.

“It is so important that knife crime is tackled as a matter of urgency.”

The man who attacked Ruth, Slawomir Gierlowski, was imprisoned for 18-and-a-half years in 2018, for assaults on three women in Dublin over a five-year period.

A further 10 years was recently added to his sentence over the attack of a

fourth woman.