It Could Have Been You

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Miraculously Merlyn survived and helped the police trace and convict her attacker, who received a 20 year sentence. In February 1992, Merlyn Nuttall was hurrying to work early one morning, heading for Brixton tube station as usual. Her story charts the immediate aftermath of the attack, when her rescuers were not sure she would survive the journey to hospital; her experiences in casualty; the intricacies of the police investigation; the horror of the trial and then her fight again for the compensation due her. Its got a hero in the fireman who helped her by putting a compress on the wounds to try stem the bleeding.

By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. The number of successful prosecutions has fallen from one in three cases in 1977 to one in 13 in 1999. She experienced few symptoms of trauma but decided to visit a psychiatrist anyway so that she would be prepared to deal with any problems that surfaced subsequently.

Biography: Merlyn Nuttall worked in the fashion business before the attack and has also lived in Gibraltar where she ran a restaurant. She did not bring it upon herself by her dress or her behaviour, nor was she marked out as an obvious, inevitable victim. But for those close to her, however, who had seen her horribly disfigured (albeit temporarily) by the attack, and who knew a few of the details, it was difficult to acknowledge "luck". I just felt so lucky to have survived the attack, because I did truly think at three times that my life was over," she says. Forty-five minutes later, naked, bleeding from throat slashes, Merlyn, near death, was on the front steps of the house trying to summon help.

It is clear that immersion in the practical details of the investigation and trial and then the compensation helped her recovery, which explains in part, perhaps, the book's function as a handbook for the survivors of violent crime. As the young woman, who was brought up in Astley Bridge, walked down a busy main road in Brixton she was grabbed by a man and dragged into a derelict house where she was subjected to an appalling sex attack. Merlyn Nuttall runs her sculpted nails lightly across her throat as she speaks, brushing the faint scar lines, the visible signs of a frenzied sexual assault by a stranger who left her for dead. Everyone thought it was over, everyone thought the sentencing had given a conclusion to the whole traumatic event. Type in any changes to the title, synopsis or contributor information using the Radio Times Style Guide for reference.Ms Nuttall was chosen for her courage in overcoming a horrific attack six years ago - when was she raped, strangled, set alight and left for dead in a derelict house in south London - and for her contribution to Victim Support, the organisation which nominated her. Merlyn Nuttall, winner of the Cosmopolitan/House of Fraser 1998 Achievement Awards, jumps for joy in Hyde Park, London today (Tuesday) after receiving her 5,000 prize. Her book is gripping stuff, moving from the attack through the investigation and court case and her physical and mental recovery, and ending with a checklist of tips for the victims of violent crime. A woman of Courage; Six years ago Merlyn Nuttall was brutally attacked and left for dead but her indomitable spirit pulled her through.