Priest celebrates survival of stab victim and unborn child

A PARISH priest in southern England yesterday hailed the news that the unborn child of a woman stabbed in the street had survived the attempt on her life.

Worshippers at Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church in Little Bookham, Surrey, have been offering public prayers for the 26-year-old every day since the horrific attack just a short distance away on April 20.

The news that Abigail Witchalls, who was stabbed in the neck in front of her 21-month-old son Joseph in a lane in the village, was pregnant with her second child emerged in the days after the attack but was never officially confirmed. But on Saturday a spokeswoman for the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in north London issued a statement saying that Mrs Witchalls was indeed three months pregnant, with mother and baby doing well.