'I thought I was going to die when he stabbed me'

PHOTOGRAPHER Alix Carmichele turned 41 yesterday - and she spent her birthday reliving the day she was stabbed, beaten with a pick-axe handle and dragged down a corridor by the scruff of her neck.

Carmichele, who was 28 at the time of the attack, is suing the ministers of justice and of safety and security for R4.62-million after a previous court ruling that the ministers were liable.

Her assailant, Francois Coetzee, was out on bail at the time of the attack.

Yesterday she told the Cape High Court how Coetzee had ambushed her in a beach house in Noetzie, near Knysna, hitting her repeatedly with the pick-axe handle until she fell to the floor.

Carmichele said Coetzee threw down the pick-axe handle, put a knife between his teeth and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.

"He pulled me into a small passage ... pushed me down, straddled me and stabbed me in the chest. I thought I was going to die."

Fef le Roux, representing the ministers, cross-examined Carmichele closely about how Coetzee had dragged her around by her hair.

Carmichele said injuries to her neck have resulted in persistent headaches that continue today, but the state maintained there is doubt whether she has a neck injury at all.

Carmichele also suffered broken bones in her left arm. She still feels pain from this injury and a neurologist told the court she would probably experience pain for the rest of her life.

The case continues on Monday.