A woman has been left unable to sleep after a masked man allegedly threatened her with a knife in a park. Annie Humphreys, 29, was walking her dog Winnie at King George V Playing Fields on Jubits Lane in Sutton Manor, St Helens, at around 9pm on Tuesday, September 22.
Annie, who lives in the area, often walks her dog in these fields. But as she walked in a square path around the playground area, she spotted a man wearing all black approaching them. Within seconds, Annie says the man, who was wearing a balaclava, lurched towards her and her dog with a knife. Merseyside Police have confirmed it is investigating the incident.
Dog's quick reaction
Speaking to the ECHO, the mum-of-one said: “I had my torch on my phone. I was thinking, he’s getting closer, he’s not going around me here. Winnie must have sensed something. Before I could do anything, he’s came towards me, lifted his arm up and said, ‘give me your f***ing phone.’ He had a knife.”
Annie froze in terror, but her bulldog Winnie shot up and tried to bite the attacker, causing him to flee. The suspect fled in the direction of the Chandlers Way estate.
Annie said: “It was really scary. I was in so much shock I just froze. I went straight back to my car, and phoned my mum first in hysterics. Then I phoned the police about it. They’ve been really good. I've not slept properly since then. It's been awful, to be honest. It really shook me up. I take my one-year-old around there when he won't settle at night. Thankfully he'd settled that night, or he would've been with me, so it could've been completely different.”
Community response and appeal
Annie is particularly grateful for her dog’s fast reactions. She said: “I've had her since a pup. If I didn't have her with me, I’d probably be in hospital because I just froze. She just lunged at him, scared him off. I'd never seen that side of her. She's always on guard when we're out, especially when the baby's there, but I've never seen her lunge at someone like that to protect me.”
Annie has since spoken to people in the community and is considering starting a campaign to raise funds for free self-defence training in the area. She said: “It is really scary what's happened, and people just need to be more vigilant, especially children, because they do go out in that area. That's why I'm trying to get self-defence classes for people, just so they can keep themselves safe. Some people can't afford it, so if I can try and raise some money to fund that for people, I can turn what happened into a positive thing.”
'A frightening incident'
A Merseyside Police spokesperson said officers received a report just before 9.40pm on September 22 that a man approached a victim on King George V Playing Field from the Jubits Lane entrance and tried to take her mobile phone whilst threatening her with a knife. The victim’s dog barked and lunged at the man causing him to run off towards Texaco Petrol Station on Jubits Lane. CCTV and witness enquiries are ongoing to identify the alleged offender, and detectives are appealing to anyone with information about the incident to contact police.
Detective Inspector James Rotherham said: “This was a frightening incident that happened in our community overnight. Although the victim was unharmed, she was left very distressed after what happened. The use of knives and any weapons is reckless and will not be tolerated on our streets, they can have tragic consequences for anyone involved and an investigation is underway to find the suspect. If you were on King George V Playing Field at around 9.40pm and saw what happened or live in the area and have any CCTV footage that captured the suspect please contact us. Any information you hold could be vital to our enquiries.”
If you have any information, you can contact police directly via @MerPolCC on Twitter or 'Merseyside Police Contact Centre' on Facebook with reference 26000779915. Alternatively, call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or report online at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously.
