A crossbow attack survivor has shared her own experience – as she calls for politicians to toughen up laws after the Bushey triple murder.
After being shot by a lunatic neighbour who murdered her boyfriend, 33-year-old Laura Sugden was forced to play dead back in 2018 in her own home. At the time, 55-year-old Anthony Lawrence pulled out bricks dividing their loft space before lying in wait in a child’s bedroom armed with a deadly bow.
Once he fatally attacked 30-year-old Shane Gilmer, the man fired at point blank range into Laura’s skull – where a part of the bolt today still remains. Terrified, she fled her home in Duffield, East Yorkshire after begging the killerfor the life of her unborn daughter.
Now, she’s spoken about how memories of the brutal attack came back after the shocking killings of BBC presenter John Hunt’s family in Bushey, Hertfordshire. Once she learned of the deaths of John’s wife Carol, 61, and their two daughters Hannah and Louise, 25 and 28, she was left “stick to the stomach.”
She added that a friend sent her a message about the Bushey murders, which “brought it all back” – leaving her “heartbroken.” Laura, who is a council worker, told the Daily Mail: “Like them, I was in my own home. A place of safety. So I know how frightened they must have been.
“Shane knew he was going to die – just like those poor women would have done. The thought that those three people had to endure something as barbaric as that – it’s just unbelievable. It’s indescribable. I’ve been really, really upset about it. It brought it all back for me and I just feel desperately sorry for the family.”
During Laura’s attack, her neighbour crept across shared loft space between their homes, with intent on murder. The former Territorial Army man blamed the couple for his eviction after he was caught growing cannabis.
Laura, who was pregnant, miraculously survived the attack after pulling the arrow from her head. But the bolt fired a Shane passed through his right arm, damaging his liver and kidney as it embedded in his spine. While Lawrence fleed from the scene at the time, he was found in a lay-by two days later having taken his life.
Since losing Shane, Laura has campaigned relentlessly for increased regulation of crossbows. This is because despite their dangerous ability to maim and kill, crossbows are not illegal to own in the UK.
While under 18s cannot own them and they cannot be wielded in public or used for hunting, there are no licences or registrations needed to purchase the weapons – which are meant for use at archery target ranges.
Another victim to a crossbow attack was 35-year-old Sana Muhammed, who was eight months pregnant. She died when her ex-partner attacked her with a crossbow bolt in east London. Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo, 51, was jailed for 33 years.
