Awaas Deader given hospital order after trying to drown wife in bog off Rollestone Road, near Beaulieu

A JUDGE has praised four members of the public for saving the life of a woman whose husband tried to drown her in a New Forest bog.

At Southampton Crown Court today (Thursday), Judge Christopher Parker QC said there was "no question" that without the intervention of the passers-by who stopped to help, Rabia Niaz (30) would have died.

Awaas Deader was found guilty this week by a jury of attempting to murder her, leaving her with significant injuries on Rollestone Road, near Beaulieu, on 11th October last year.

The court heard Deader (27), of Blenheim Gardens, Southampton, was a schizophrenic who had suffered a sharp decline in his mental health in the months leading up to the attack.

Judge Parker praised the actions of Kayleigh Arney, Danielle Hutley, Chelsea Turner and Joshua McCullie, who discovered Rabia. She had suffered fractures to her jaw and eye socket.

He added: "On the evening of 11th October last year, well after dark and on an otherwise deserted road in the New Forest, you assaulted your wife at the roadside. You were trying to drown her in a muddy bog.

"Without the intervention of passers-by, it seems to me there is no question that she would have died at your hands that night."

Judge Parker ruled Kayleigh Arney and Danielle Hutley be paid a sum of £750 each for spending over an hour "in a swamp trying to save [Ms Niaz], which will be funded from the High Sheriff's Awards".

He said the award reflected "the depths they literally went to" to support her.

Chelsea Turner and Joshua McCullie will each receive £500 for their help.

Deader had admitted attacking his wife, to whom he had been married for around three years, but claimed insanity.

Speaking after Deader was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order, the officer in charge of the case, DC Jess Swift, called the attack "sustained and abhorrent".

She said: "I have no doubt that it is a result of the brave actions of those members of public who were passing and intervened that resulted in the victim surviving the attack on her.

"My praise and thanks goes out to them.

"This incident will have had a profound impact on [Ms Niaz] as well as her family who have been supporting her and I hope that today’s verdict allows them to begin to move forward from this incident.

"We welcome the jury’s decision to convict Awaas Deader in relation to this callous attack."