Windmill Road Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Murder at Retrial

Mark Brazant admits repeatedly stabbing woman in the face

Mark Brazant. Picture: Metropolitan Police

A man who lived on Windmill Road has admitted a charge of attempted murder.

44-year-old Mark Brazant, who had a history of attacks on lone women, previously pleaded not guilty but a jury failed to reach a verdict at the original trial at the Old Bailey.

The prosecution had requested a retrial and Brazant subsequently changed his plea which he entered by video link from Three Bridges medium secure hospital.

He is a paranoid schizophrenic who had carried out four assaults in one day on 26 November last year. He had pleaded guilty to these offences but was released on licence from Thameside Prison just before Christmas to spend a year on post-sentence supervision staying at a support house.

Brazant was caught on CCTV looking for victims on the day of the attack. Picture: Met Police

However, just a few days after his release he attacked 36-year-old Josephine Conlon who was pushing her baby in a pram along a street in Streatham Hill in South London. She was stabbed seven times in the face and neck. A witness described how she screamed ‘I have been stabbed’ after the attack.

Brazant was charged on Thursday, 2 January with attempted murder, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a pointed/bladed article after handing himself in to the police. He told the officer booking him in that he wanted to apologise to Mrs Conlon.

Josephine Conlon

Mrs Conlon was discharged from hospital the day following the attack but is still receiving treatment for the wounds sustained.

Brazant has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 16 September.

August 14, 2020