A MAN has appeared in court accused of stabbing a woman in the head.

George Hassall, 22, is said by prosecutors to have used a folding knife to stab his former partner a number of times in front of passersby at Coley Parkon November 24 last year.

READ MORE: Man charged following reported stabbing in Coley Park

Appearing before Oxford Crown Court on Friday [January 7], Hassall, of Burghclere, Hampshire, entered no pleas to allegations of wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon.

Judge Maria Lamb remanded him in custody and provisionally fixed his trial to start on May 18 at the Oxford court.

The assault allegedly took place in Wensley Road, Reading.

READ MORE: Eyewitness reveals account of Coley Park police incident

Police and ambulance crews rushed to the scene just after 2pm on Wednesday, November 24 following reports of an incident in the west-Reading estate.

An air ambulance crew was also deployed to the scene, where an 18-year-old woman was given medical attention.

She was taken to hospital for treatment but her injuries were said not to be life-threatening.

One man was arrested following the incident and police said they believed the alleged victim and the alleged attacker were known to each other.

One man, Oliver, who has been the warden at the Coley Park tower blocks for the past three months, told the Chronicle about what he saw of the incident.

Speaking in November, he said: “I saw her [the victim] taken into the ambulance.

“The air ambulance came down here and took her away about 45 minutes to an hour later.

READ MORE: The stabbings in Reading that made 2021 a year to forget

“It was about 2.30pm, I was here a little later than that. That was the time it happened around then.

“I wasn’t sure what happened, and thought ‘what is going on here?’ They hadn’t closed the road at that stage.

“When I saw her taken into the ambulance I could see she was on oxygen.

“People tell you things, but when you see [it] for yourself, it's bad.

“I am the warden for the whole area. I have only been here for three months.

“It’s not excessively violent but there are issues you know, there are drug issues here and there are antisocial behaviour issues but [it’s] not excessive.

“I was talking to one resident there and he said this is the first time he remembers [an incident like this] in broad daylight in 20 years.

“I have certainly not seen something like this in [the] three months [as warden].”

The Reading Chronicle would like to make clear there is no suggestion that the incident is drug-related and the above account is an eyewitness’s testimony.