Knife victim describes physical and emotional 'torture'

Pretty French student Barbara Riouall sat a few feet from her attacker today and revealed how she lives day to day – with little thought for the future.

Nearly two years since she was brutally attacked and knifed outside her home, the 24-year-old braved the former Lithuanian soldier who tried to take her life.

After 40 harrowing minutes in the witness box describing the mental and physical anguish she suffers daily, Ms Riouall said: “I still live day to day and it is difficult for me to have a concept of tomorrow.”

Her nerves are shattered, she fears meeting strangers, she wears scarves to cover the scars on her neck and she is both physically and emotionally tortured.

In court, she wore a black top cut revealing the marks on her neck from the kitchen knife.

As she bravely took the stand, Belousovas briefly glanced at her but a detective stood between them preventing any eye contact.

Reaching for a glass of water, her hands shaking uncontrollably, she asked: “May I have a moment?”

She began by saying the attack had dramatically changed her life and outlined the physical injuries, both hands are disabled with tendons and nerves shattered.

“I can’t sleep as I could, I can’t sleep on my tummy as my throat has been deviated and I can’t breath like that,” she said.

Struggling not to break down in tears she said: “I have become very frail. I’m very often and easily exhausted, I can’t walk all day as I could before this happened.”

But the psychological trauma is with her every day.

“I can’t do new stuff. I can’t meet as easily as I could new people.

And as for going out at night alone: “It’s impossible for me I have to be out at night with someone else – I’m really scared.

“I get panicked completely panicked. When I was in Marseille I used an elevator and it stopped at a certain floor and a man entered. There were just the two of us and I don’t know, I completely cracked up, because I thought he was going to stab me.

“The view of a knife is very difficult for me and I can’t use a kitchen knife now.”

Ms Riouall went on: “I have to wear a scarf outside and put on sun block to protect my scars. I used to sail and do some horse riding and now I can’t because of my hand injuries.”

Ms Riouall revealed she turned down an offer from a London university to study a masters degree and also planned to undergo plastic surgery in the future.

“It was impossible for me to do that. I would be in the same circumstances then as when I came to Dublin.”

Her youngest sister is frightened when confronted by groups of people at their home in Marseille, she told the court and added that her other sister has to phone home every day from London to reassure her parents she is fine.

Her mother gave up her job as a nurse as she could no longer be confronted with patients needing treatment in the same way as her daughter did.

Ms Riouall thought she was going to die.

“After the hospital it happened frequently that I have had dreams that I should have been dead under the stairs.”

Belousovas also addressed the court. In broken English he described how he fell into heroin addiction before apologising to Ms Riouall.

“I’m very sorry for what I have done. She is supposed to live through this for all her life.

“I still don’t believe what I did, it’s been a terrible dream. I hope there is a chance she can forget this and I hope she can find happiness in her life. I’m very sorry for the injuries, and inconvenience and disabilities she’ll have all her life.”

The day after the attack he tried to kill himself.

Sitting at the back of the court Ms Riouall. showed little emotion as the sentence was handed down, but a number of friends rushed to her side.