By Patrick LowmanA SENIOR detective has said a woman who had a four-inch knife plunged into her stomach during a horrific attack on an isolated country road was lucky to be alive.

By Patrick Lowman

A SENIOR detective has said a woman who had a four-inch knife plunged into her stomach during a horrific attack on an isolated country road was lucky to be alive.

Suffolk police have launched a hunt for the knifeman who attacked the woman in an apparently motiveless attack after she stopped her car in a country lane.

But officers would not be drawn on whether the incident had been sparked by a road rage incident and said they were still trying establish a motive for the attack on the married 28-year-old woman, from Sudbury.

Detective Inspector Mike Bacon, who is leading the investigation, appealed for public assistance in trying to trace the woman's attacker, who left his victim for dead after the stabbing.

He said: “The problem at this stage is we don't know what we are dealing with and we have to keep an open mind. We don't know if it is a person who is likely to do this again or something that happened in the heat of the moment.”

The woman - who is being comforted by her family at Colchester General Hospital, where she is recovering from her horrific ordeal - was attacked on Thursday night.

She was driving her silver Ford Focus from Great Cornard towards Newton Green at about 8pm when she noticed a vehicle following her with its lights flashing.

She turned into Joe's Road at Cornard Tye and the other car followed her, continuing to flash its lights.

The woman swerved her vehicle and stopped before getting out of the car, where she was confronted by the male driver of the other car and a verbal altercation took place.

The man then stabbed her in the stomach with a four-inch knife and drove off in the direction of Little Cornard.

After the attack, the woman managed to stumble back to her car bleeding from her single injury. She dialled 999 on her mobile phone, with the knife still lodged in her stomach.

She was taken by ambulance to Colchester General Hospital, where she underwent a three-hour operation and where she was in a “stable” condition last night.

Although the woman, who has not been named, but who works as a carer, is expected to make a full recovery, she is said to be extremely traumatised by her ordeal.

Mr Bacon said: “We are still trying to establish the motive for this attack, but we are treating it as an extremely serious incident. The woman was stabbed in the stomach with a four-inch knife and is very fortunate to have survived.

“It is lucky the victim had a mobile phone with her as the incident happened on a very remote road and the consequences could have been so much worse.

“The woman is expected to make a full recovery, but she is very shaken by the attack, this is a serious thing to happen to someone.”

He added: “This was a particularly nasty unprovoked attack on a lone female. The victim sustained serious injuries from the stabbing and underwent a three-hour operation. Thankfully, her condition is now stable.

“We have managed to speak to the woman, who has confirmed she did not recognise her attacker and said he had no accent. She will be in hospital at least a couple of days and we will be speaking to her again over the weekend to try and get more details on the attack.”

Police have now warned all women motorists driving alone not to stop in remote areas, to keep all doors locked and to call 999 if they feel threatened or become suspicious.

The knifeman was driving an old red hatchback car, described as being smaller than the victim's own Ford Focus.

He is a white man aged in his early 40s, about 5ft 9in tall and of a medium build with a tanned complexion. He was clean-shaven with short dark hair, a stud in his left ear and wore a dark short-sleeved T-shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information about the attack should contact Sudbury police on 01284 774344 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

patrick.lowman@eadt.co.uk