Brit woman stabbed and has hair hacked off in horror gypsy ‘shaming ritual’

A British bar worker was stabbed and had her hair hacked in a vicious "ritual shaming" by a crazed Roma gypsy in Portugal.

Leighanne Rumney, 22, was abducted by Eliana Carvalho, 24, and taken to a remote rural area where she was tortured and stabbed after being wrongly accused for having an affair with Carvalho's partner.

Carvalho was yesterday jailed for six-and-a-half years for aggravated kidnap, but despite her conviction, she was allowed to walk free from court pending an expected appeal.

Addressing the yob, Judge Patricia Avila said: "It was an aggravated kidnapping because it was accompanied by torture and it was cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment.

"In deciding on the penalty, we considered the lack of regret and the fact that the violence used was excessive, gratuitous and senseless.

"The victim was left in fear of her life and she was forced to leave the country."

During the trial in Portimao in the Algarve, Portugal., the 24-year-old branded the judge "a little whore".

The court heard Ms Rumney, now back in her native Newcastle, was targeted after being wrongly accused by Carvalho of having an affair with her attacker’s partner in May, 2015.

She was working as a waitress at The Hot Shot Bar in the party resort of Albufeira when she caught the eye of a local gypsy regular.

Carvalho "abandoned [her] to her fate in a wild, isolated and unfamiliar place, naked and seriously wounded and bleeding to death" after kicking and stabbing her.

The bar worker, then just 18, lost two litres of blood and needed emergency surgery after staggering into the road to flag down a passing car.

Her attackers stabbed her and hacked her hair off with scissors before stripping her clothes.

Her sister Kayleigh Ann said in an agonising online appeal for financial help after the traumatic attack: "My sister moved to Portugal for a new exciting adventure only to be violently attacked by three people who punched and kicked her as well as attacking her with knifes and a pair of scissors."

"She survived the ordeal with seven stab wounds, various marks and a 30cm cut on her head and she also lost two litres of blood.

"They cut her hair off as a sick jealousy ritual.

"I would like to raise as much money so we can fly out to see her as well as buy her a wig to replace her beautiful long blonde hair.

"She is such a strong person and she escaped with her life. This could have been a lot worse. Please help me raise enough money to restore her confidence and get our family over there to see her and help her get justice."

Carvalho's mother Rute Isabel Fernandes Almeida, 40, and a third Roma gypsy were acquitted after a lengthy trial.

Before the trial, Ms Rumney – who is now a mum-of-one – said: "I was very naive and made the mistake of accepting a lift home from them and realised straight away I was in trouble.

"They drove me 45 minutes away from where I lived to a remote spot then opened a bag which I saw contained a knife and scissors.

"I was convinced they were going to kill me and was so scared I didn’t move or speak as the two women stripped me naked and started stabbing me in the back.

"They finally took the scissors and chopped off all my hair – it was some kind of a ritual to shame me – then left me with blood pouring from my wounds."

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