Woman who tried to kill her housemate in Wigan fails to attend court to hear her punishment

The sentencing of a woman who admitted trying to kill her housemate in a flurry of knife blows and by throwing a pan of boiling water over her has been delayed after she failed to attend court.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Awa Zongo was due to find out her punishment at Manchester Crown Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to attempted murder.

But Judge Patrick Field, QC was told she had not left her prison cell to attend the hearing, although it was not clear if she had refused or if there had been a misunderstanding.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rather than sentence Zongo in her absence, it was decided that the case would be adjourned until Friday October 9.

Manchester Crown CourtManchester Crown Court
Manchester Crown Court

This would also allow time for Zongo’s lawyer to speak to her and find out why she had not attended.

Zongo launched what police described as a “frenzied attack” on Asam Panahandeh with a knife, the last blow from which embedded itself in the terrified victim’s neck and missed lethally severing a main artery by only millimetres, the court previously heard.

Onlookers were greeted by a scene of total horror as both victim and attacker came out onto Atherton Road, Hindley, from a house where asylum-seekers live, drenched in blood.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A barefoot Ms Panahandeh could be seen with the hilt of the knife jutting from her neck before she collapsed and the weapon was left in situ until she could receive treatment in hospital.

The catalogue of the 39-year-old’s injuries included some three dozen stab wounds to her neck, chest, stomach and thighs.

The surgeon who operated upon her to remove the blade said that she would likely have died if the final wound had cut through her carotid artery but thankfully the blow missed it by a fraction.

A pan of scalding water had also been poured over her, causing burns to the face, left shoulder, arm and back, and covered up to 20 per cent of her body’s surface area.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The violence erupted on the morning of December 14 during a row between the two women and 28-year-old Zongo herself needed hospital treatment for minor injuries after her victim fought back.

Police and paramedics arrived at the scene between 10.20am and 10.40am and a neighbour saw the defendant place herself on the floor before the ambulance arrived.

Zongo, of Atherton Road, Hindley, admitted the attack on her housemate during police interview and she was charged with attempted murder.

At the time onlookers spoke of their shock and horror at what they witnessed in the street.

The Wigan Observer is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. For unlimited access to Wigan news and information online, you can subscribe here