Witness heard Walsall stabbing victim shouting for help, trial told

Maureen Wedderburn was walking to work in West Bromwich Road, in Walsall, on April 6 when her husband Hugh, whom she had left weeks before, attacked her with a knife resulting in multiple stab wounds, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

Giving evidence with the help of a Romanian interpreter eyewitness Christina Piscaru told the jury she was taking her children to a nearby school and a nursery when she saw the victim, whom she recognised arguing with a man at about 7.50am.

Miss Piscaru said: "I heard someone shouting 'call the police please'. The voice was coming from across the road in a diagonal direction from me. She was shouting, she seemed to be scared.

"I looked and I saw a woman who was fighting with a man. She was on her feet when I first saw her. There was physical contact between them. They were pushing each other.

"This went on for a few seconds. I didn't notice anyone else in the street. I was concerned for my daughters. I went to the school to get help.

"I crossed over the street when I got to the school I knocked on the door, but nobody came out. I returned to the street and saw a man and a lady coming out of a house. I spoke to the man and he allowed my daughters to sit in the back of his car.

"I recognised the lady who was shouting, I knew her name was Maureen. I hadn't seen the man before. I didn't know he was her husband. Initially when I saw them my instinct was to go towards them, but I decided to go to the school.

"I went to the front of the school. I didn't notice Maureen when I returned to the street. I wasn't there when the police came. I took my daughter to nursery and returned to the school."

In cross-examination Mr Philip Brunt, defending barrister, asked Miss Piscaru if she saw a weapon being used at any stage during the incident.

She shook her head and replied: "I did not see any weapon being used."

She said when she got back from the front of the school Mrs Wedderburn was not there, but that she saw the defendant sitting on a wall.

The jury previously heard that the victim fell to the ground after suffering 10 stab wounds, a partially collapsed lung and a fractured rib during the incident which happened near Whitehall Nursery and Infants School. She was taken by ambulance to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Wedderburn, 66, of Newbolt Street, Delves, denies attempted murder claiming he only intended to injure her. The trial continues.