Mark McLaughlin
Evening News (Edinburgh)
Nurse tells of hostage terror
A NURSE was held hostage in her bedroom for four hours after waking to find a disturbed knife man in her room.
Mary Johnston, 51, was barricaded inside with Rafal Swiderski until she managed to secretly text a plea for police help.
Swiderski, 20, piled furniture against the bedroom door and pulled out his knife after Ms Johnston spotted him.
He then brandished the knife at her and threatened to stab himself, as well as banging and shouting, and pointing frantically at the empty street.
The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary staff nurse, of East Main Street, Broxburn, eventually managed to slip out after police arrived and started trying to convince him to let her go.
Swiderski was eventually arrested after being shot and immobilised by a taser stun gun.
Ms Johnston said: "I had been on the night shift and I was woken about 11.45am by someone coming into the house. The next thing I knew this strange man had walked into my bedroom.
"He kept saying, 'Shhh, please'. He clearly thought someone was after him.
"He went into the kitchen and I heard him raking around and when he came back he pushed my bed and my treadmill against the door, and when he turned around I saw that he had a knife in the back of his trousers.
"He pulled the knife out and didn't let go of it, and a few times he said he was going to stab himself with it.
"Then he told me to lift up the blinds so he could see out, and started pointing at nothing and shouting 'look, look'.
"I tried to calm him down by telling him that no-one was there, but whenever I let go of the blinds he held the knife to me and told me to lift them up."
Ms Johnston was able to grab her phone without Swiderski noticing, and discreetly text, "HELP. PHONE POLICE", to her last number.
She added: "I could hear the police arrive outside. This just made him more agitated and he began jumping on the bed, on the chest of drawers and throwing ornaments around.
"The police were saying, 'Rafal, Rafal, let the lady go. You don't need her.'
"I managed to push the bed away from the door until it was just wide enough to squeeze through. When I saw my chance, I ran for it. He saw me and ran after me, but I made it out the front door and managed to pull it shut behind me."
The case follows the shooting of Raoul Moat with a shotgun-style taser, which has raised fresh controversy about the use of the stun guns.
But Ms Johnston is adamant that the police did the right thing.
She said: "If the police hadn't tasered him, who knows what he would have done."
Last Thursday, Swiderski pled guilty to entering Ms Johnston's house without invitation, barricading her inside and brandishing a knife on May 22 this year.
He was remanded in custody pending background reports. Sentencing is due on August 5.
A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police issue tasers to authorised firearms officers, who are only permitted to use the device in circumstances where a suspect presents a clear risk to the public, the officers in attendance or even themselves.
"Before a taser is discharged, the suspect will be given clear warning to cease their actions and surrender."
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