‘He tried to kill me,' shouted pregnant woman stabbed in Aberfan

Andreea Pintilli, the 37-week pregnant woman who was repeatedly stabbed on her doorstep in Aberfan, shouted: “He tried to kill me,” neighbours who rushed to save her said.

Ms Pintilli was stabbed at least four times during the school run on Tuesday morning in the Welsh village.

Daniel Mihai Popescu, 29, from Merthyr, has been charged with attempted murder, stalking and witness intimation. He will appear at Merthyr magistrates’ court on Thursday morning.

Neighbours said the 29-year-old mother of two tried to phone a friend as she lay on the ground bleeding from her wounds.

Shaun Roberts, a 36-year-old insurance loss adjuster, who rushed outside to stem the bleeding with towels, said: she shouted: “He tried to kill me.”

Mr Roberts said: “I heard screaming coming from outside, and we thought it was children.

“I went outside and tried to put pressure on some of the wounds.  Katie [Mr Roberts’ wife] went to get some towels to make her comfortable.

“It happened so fast, she was conscious and she was very brave but obviously in shock.”

Mr Roberts went back inside to tend the couple’s seven-month-old girl May, who was in her cot.

He continued: “My hands were covered in blood so I had to wash them first, from where I had just put my hands on the wounds and pushed.

“She had a jacket on, but I could not say if that protected her at all, the man ran off up the street, towards the Taff trail.

“Katie stayed there just trying to help the woman until the emergency service arrived.”

The attacker ran off when neighbours arrived on the scene.

Ms Pintilli is said to have managed to take out her mobile phone to call a friend to say she had been stabbed.

‘It all happened so fast’

Mrs Roberts said: “I don’t know who she was speaking to, she was lying on the floor.

“She rolled on the floor to protect her baby. We checked her belly and there were no knife wounds there.

“It all happened so fast, there were four or five stab wounds to her back.”

Mrs Roberts said they heard the unborn child had survived the attack.

The couple live directly opposite the three bedroom rented property where Ms Pintilli moved in with her young family around two weeks ago.

The couple’s motion-sensitive security camera in their front window captured every moment of the attack and the footage is being investigated by the police.

Police removed the cordon from outside the house on Wednesday afternoon.

They said Ms Pintilli had undergone a CT scan on Wednesday to discover the depth of the stab wounds.

South Wales police said Ms Pintilli has been discharged from hospital.

Ms Pintilli worked at a Home Bargains store and had gone on maternity leave only four days before the attack.

Leah Hull, 23, a colleague, said: “She has no family here so one of her close friends from work is with her in hospital and giving us updates on how she is doing.”

Staff at the supermarket said Ms Pintilli’s baby is due on Dec 22.

Ms Pintilli started work at the Merthyr Tydfil branch of Home Bargains earlier this year and staff said she was “lovely”.

She worked for 20 hours a week, which allowed her to take her two children to school every day.