A university drop-out who cut a woman’s throat in an unprovoked knife attack after a chance meeting was jailed for eight years today.
Alif Miah told the victim that she had fallen and burst her nose and later informed police that he had met a bleeding lady in the street and tried to help her.
Miah turned up at the block of flats where he had carried out the assault and asked police, who had secured the area, for access to visit a friend but was refused.
When Miah (34) was later detained he denied that he was responsible for the attack on 63-year-old Alexandra Crawford.
But the High Court in Edinburgh heard that the victim’s blood was found on the sleeves of his jacket and his DNA was on the handle of a blood-stained knife found in a drain at the rear of flats in Aberdeen’s Richmond Walk.
Unemployed Miah, of Rosemount Square, Aberdeen, earlier admitted assaulting the victim to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of her life of September 24, 2013 in her home in Richmond Walk, when he appeared in court.
An allegation that he had attempted to murder her was deleted.
He grabbed her by the hair, pulled her head back and struck her on the neck with a knife in the attack.
Lord Stewart told Miah that he would have jailed him for 10 years but for his guilty plea.
The judge extended his “best wishes” to Miah in addressing his drug and alcohol problems. The court heard that the wound suffered by the victim was described by an experienced paramedic as one of the worst he had ever seen.
She later had sutures and 16 metal staples inserted to close the wound.
Advocate depute Ian Wallace said: “He was amazed that Ms Crawford was standing up straight.”
The prosecutor said that the victim, who lived alone, had been approached by Miah outside her flat and he told her he knew both her and her son.
They went into her flat and started drinking and at one stage Miah asked her to go through to the bathroom.
Mr Wallace said: “He stood behind her, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back towards him. Ms Crawford turned towards the accused and saw that he had a black handled knife in his hand.”
Miah put his arm across her chest and cut her throat. She staggered out of the bathroom and collapsed on the floor, drifting in and out of consciousness.
The knife attacker left the flat and came back on several occasions. At one stage the victim asked him why he had attacked her and he claimed that he had not done anything, but she had fallen and burst her nose.
Miah eventually finally left and she locked her door and went to bed. The following day she got up and tried to clean the blood.
Mr Wallace said: “She did not want to report the incident to the police.” At one stage the stabbing victim went to a family doctor’s practice and asked for an appointment with a nurse.
The advocate depute said: “When she showed the receptionist the wound on her neck, it was explained to her that she would have to go to hospital for treatment.”
She later went home and sought help from a neighbour and told him she did not want to involve the police or go to hospital.
He contacted another neighbour and asked him to call an ambulance. Paramedic Marcus Shearer arrived and found the victim standing and holding a paper towel to her neck and she showed him the injury.
Mr Wallace said: “Mr Shearer described the injury as one of the worst he had ever seen.” She was taken to hospital for further treatment.
A surgeon who examined her said that the injury had the potential to threaten her life as it was very close to major vessels in the neck.
The advocate depute said that the victim had later explained that after the attack she had been very scared of her assailant and what might happen if she spoke to the police, but had agreed to speak to them after being persuaded by her son.
She said she was no longer scared of him, but wanted to forget about the incident and did not want to give evidence in court.
Defence counsel Gareth Jones said Miah had been invited into the property and carried on drinking but was at a loss to explain what then happened.
“He is ashamed and horrified that he could that he could behave in that way,” he said.
Mr Jones said Miah had previously gone to university to take a course on quantity surveying but dropped out and began using drugs.
At the time of the offence he was drinking and taking prescription drugs.