By Patrick LowmanDETECTIVES investigating a road rage attack where a woman driver had a four-inch knife plunged into her stomach have said their 10-month inquiry has come to a standstill.

By Patrick Lowman

DETECTIVES investigating a road rage attack where a woman driver had a four-inch knife plunged into her stomach have said their 10-month inquiry has come to a standstill.

The stabbing happened on an isolated country road after a motorist forced the 28-year-old woman's vehicle off the road before plunging a knife into her stomach and leaving her for dead.

Suffolk police launched an investigation into the stabbing, which happened last year in the hamlet of Cornard Tye, but 10 months later detectives have admitted they have no new leads to pursue.

The victim, who lives in the Sudbury area, was driving her Ford Focus between Great Cornard and Newton Green at about 8pm on April 3 when she noticed a red hatchback car following her with its lights flashing.

She turned into the remote Joe's Road in Cornard Tye in an attempt to escape her pursuer, but the other vehicle continued to follow her before forcing her pull over.

An agitated man then confronted the woman and, after a verbal altercation, plunged the knife into her stomach before driving off in the direction of Little Cornard.

The victim managed to stumble back to her car and dial 999 on her mobile telephone as she sat bleeding heavily and drifting in and out of consciousness.

She was taken by ambulance to Colchester General Hospital, where she underwent a three-hour operation to remove the knife.

Last year the married woman, who works as a carer, told the East Anglian Daily Times how the incident had left her traumatised and had "destroyed her life".

A Suffolk police spokesman said: "The inquiry is still on file and remains open. Despite following up 500 lines of inquiry, we have no leads to follow-up.

"We did arrest a man, but he was released without charge. Since then we haven't received any other information, so we have absolutely nothing the work on."

Officers have pursued 500 lines of inquiry, including door-to-door questioning, while hundreds of motorists were stopped and questioned in checks carried out a week after the stabbing.

Widespread media appeals, including the release of a photo-fit and a description of the suspect,

have also failed to provide a breakthrough.

Anyone with information about the stabbing should contact Suffolk police on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

patrick.lowman@eadt.co.uk