The Times of London: Women using killer heels in drunken brawls, warn police

They may be associated with glamour and sex appeal but stiletto heels are increasingly used as a weapon.

Police forces are dealing with hundreds of incidents of women using the footwear in assaults, sometimes with life-changing injuries for their victims.

According to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act, almost 150 violent incidents involving stilettos have been recorded since 2013.

The data came from just 21 of 44 police forces, indicating that the actual number of attacks is likely to be higher.

Merseyside is a hotspot for attacks with high heels, with 43 recorded since 2013. The numbers led to one of the area's top policemen saying that clubbers were “letting themselves down“ and urged them to control their drinking in the wake of a series of attacks.

Last May, a man was left with a 7 cm scar on his forehead as well as a severed artery after an unprovoked attack with a metal tapped stiletto heel. Amy Sundve, 30, a mother of two who was pregnant at the time, launched the attack outside a pub in Kirkdale before attacking her victim's girlfriend. She was jailed for ten months.

Another victim, Katrina Coucill, 29, from Bolton, was blinded in her left eye and said she lost her job in the aftermath of the attack. Her attacker has never been caught.

Ms Coucill, who now has a glass eye, said the attack “ruined her life“ and had left her suffering from depression.

Other victims have also expressed alarm at the figures. Graham Roach, a doorman from Edinburgh, who was blinded in one eye after a woman attacked him with her heel, called them “shocking“.


Fazit: Vorsicht bei Stiletto-Ladys ist angebracht.