Husband's heart-breaking tribute to City worker left in vegetative state as knife attacker is jailed

A husband has paid heartbreaking tribute to his wife who was left in a vegetative state after her attacker was jailed for stabbing her in the head during a brutal robbery.

Ansgar Wenzel described his wife Qingqing Rao as a “wonderful, warm-hearted and happy girl” who was “always happy to help anyone who needed it."

He said he would "always remember how she smiled and turned her head laughing" the morning before the attack when she left for work. "The goodbye kiss is one I will always cherish,” he added.

The 30-year-old City worker, who worked at a private equity firm, was stabbed twice by 27-year-old Barry Peacham when he attempted to rob her as she crossed a park in Daghenham on February 13 this year.

One of the stab wounds was aimed at her head which resulted in a “catastrophic brain injury”.

He was on Friday sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty of grievous bodily harm and robbery, Scotland Yard said.

The couple had been married for less than six months and had been partners for 10 years.

Peacham was convicted of grievous bodily harm and robbery on October 24 after a trial at the Old Bailey. He was found not guilty of attempted murder, Scotland Yard said.

More than nine months after the attack, Ms Rao requires round-the-clock care and remains in a vegetative state at a special nursing home.

In a statement circulated by police, Mr Wenzel said: “While on the way back from work, my wife of less than six months, my partner for ten years, my best friend, was brutally assaulted, robbed and stabbed several times a few metres from our home.

“Since then, she has been in a coma from which she will never wake up.

“She was cruelly taken away from me the day before Valentine’s Day, a few days before our ten-year anniversary, for nothing more than a handbag and its contents.

"Qingqing is a wonderful, warm-hearted and happy girl, always friendly and happy to help anyone who needed her help."

"Having come from rural China of the 1980s, she told me several times about the hardships she grew up with. Coming from almost nothing, she managed to get into one of the best middle schools in Hunan, her home province."

Mr Wenzel said his wife moved to the UK in 2002, barely speaking any English, and that after less than three years, she had finished five A-Levels. She then obtained a place to study mathematics at Imperial College which is where the pair met and started dating.

He added: “I will not miss a single day of the almost ten years we shared. I will always remember how she smiled and turned her head laughing in the morning of February 13 when she left for work. The goodbye kiss is one I will always cherish.”

Detective chief inspector Gary Holmes, of the Met Police major crime unit, said: “The level of force used against Qingqing was horrific and completely unnecessary.

“Peacham inflicted injuries on her she will never recover from. He has robbed a young newlywed with a promising career of a bright future.

“Nothing can undo the horrifying injuries Peacham inflicted on Qingqing, but I do hope that the substantial sentence handed down today brings her husband and other family members and loved ones some measure of comfort.”