Brave Mum Tells I Fought Off A Knifeman At The Supermarket

Charlene's Weekly Shop Turned to Terror

- Emma Ponsford

When Charlene Gibbard’s husband popped into the supermarket to pick up some last-minute groceries, the doting mum waited in the car with sleeping baby Eila, two.

But it was a decision that had a catastrophic impact on the usually happy-go-lucky mum of-three – as moments later a knife-wielding stranger burst into her car and ordered her ‘not to say a word’.

The terrified 31-year-old had no idea what the man wanted, but one thing was clear – she wasn’t going to let anyone harm her precious baby.

Channelling the tiger mum inside her, Charlene fought back, lashing out at the assailant until he fell back out of the car, giving her just enough time to wrestle the sleepy tot from her car seat and flee to safety.

Earlier this month, Ashley Cobb, 21, was jailed for the attack, which has left the mum in a state of shock.

‘It started off as an ordinary day. We were on our way to pick up our eldest two, Ruby, 12, and Jenson, nine, and at the last minute decided to pop into our local store and pick up some extra bits for tea,’ Charlene tells New Idea. ‘My little girl had fallen asleep in the back of the car and I decided a trip to the shops wasn’t worth waking her so I stayed put while my husband Westley popped in.

‘It was just a very, very ordinary day... until suddenly the car door flew open and I found myself face-to-face with a man armed with a knife. My blood ran cold.’

Many people, including Charlene, fear they’d freeze in such circumstances, but the mum was quick to defend herself.

‘It all happened so quickly. The man was jabbing this knife at my chest and he told me: “Don’t say nothing,”’ she says.