Mum stabbed after dropping children at school

A YOUNG mother-of-three was stabbed in a horror daylight attack minutes after dropping off her five-year-old daughter at primary school.

The incident occurred in Wester Drylaw Drive. Picture: Ian Georgeson

Charlene Malone, 29, was knifed in front of a terrified friend outside her home on Wester Drylaw Drive.

She had just dropped her youngest daughter off at nearby Ferryhill Primary School when a car pulled up alongside her.

A man and a woman jumped out and launched the vicious attack outside her flat at 9am yesterday.

The woman was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Picture: Greg Macvean

A close friend described how the mother was dragged along the pavement before being slashed in the arm and stabbed in the back with a blade.

The weapon, which was said to have been carried by the

female attacker, is understood to have been a Stanley knife.

An eyewitness also claimed that a small child had been seen in the back seat of the car driven by the alleged attackers.

The friend said: “Her arm got slashed on the underneath because she put up her arm to defend herself and she got stabbed in the back.

“She was just coming back from the school after dropping off the wee one. She was only going to go back to her friend’s for a cup of tea.

“Her other two children are big enough to walk there but the little one is only five so she walks her along.

“Her friend was waiting for her outside the flat in the car.”

Ferryhill Primary is on Groathill Road North, just two streets away from the scene of the attack.

The friend added: “She was just outside when this car pulls up and a woman got out and attacked her. I didn’t see it but two witnesses saw it.

“Then Charlene was getting the better of her so a man got out and dragged Charlene along the street by her hair.

“That’s when the woman got her knife out, it was a Stanley knife I think. She stabbed her in the back and then they drove off.

“They had a baby in the back and it was screaming whilst all this was carrying on.”

Ms Malone was taken to hospital, where her condition was said to be non-life threatening.

A police spokesman said officers were following a positive line of inquiry. He said: “Police are investigating following a report of an assault in Drylaw.”

Local councillor Cammy Day said: “It’s horrendous to see any attack, particularly in front of a young child. I’d urge anyone who has any information to contact police on 101.

“I’m sure that the police will apprehend those who are responsible for this. It’s an isolated incident, happening at that time.”

Drylaw is among the districts being targeted in the Stronger North campaign, set up in the wake of a stabbing in West Pilton. The attack on Jie Yu in

October sparked concerns about violent and antisocial behaviour in north Edinburgh.

Cllr Day said there had been positive feedback from the local community since the drive was set up last year.