ABIGAIL SUSPECT KILLS HIMSELF; Man dies of overdose in Scots hospital.

Byline: By Kevin Turner

A KEY suspect in the attack on Abigail Witchalls has killed himself after fleeing to Scotland.

Neighbour Richard Cazaly, 23, drove north a few days after the knife attack on Abigail in Little Bookham, Surrey, last month.

Cazaly had been questioned by police twice after the stabbing, once during door-to-door inquiries and also at a roadblock but he had not been arrested.

Like the knifeman Abigail described, Cazaly wore distinctive earrings and drove a blue car.

Surrey Police said last night that on April 25 he drove the 600 miles to Inverness where he checked in to a bed--and- breakfast.

On April 27 he took an overdose of paracetemol.

Police said he later called an ambulance and the call was traced to Kinlochewe, Ross-shire.

He was taken to Raigmore in Inverness and transferred from there to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he died on April 30Forensic tests are being carried out on his body to establish whether he can be linked by DNA to the attack scene.

Police are checking his Volvo 440 for traces of hair, blood and clothing fibres.

The results are expected within three to four weeks A Surrey Police spokesman said last night: 'This is a large and complex inquiry which continues to take huge leaps forward. We are delighted with the response from the media and public, which has resulted in over 700 calls being received.

'A number of lines of inquiry remain active.'

Mum-of-one Abigail was left paralysed after the attack which stunned the country.

The 26-year-old was returning from a mother and toddler group with her 21month-old son Joseph when the attack happened.

She was grabbed by the hair and dragged to the ground before being stabbed once in the neck.

After the attack she was taken to St George's Hospital in London and later transferred to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, where she is in a stable condition.

Abigail has been helping police with their inquiries through facial expressions and blinkingHowever, since the recent death of her grandmother she has been too grief-stricken to answer further questions.

Detectives are still waiting to conduct a full interview with Abigail.

On April 27, a 25-year-old Surrey man was arrested but later released pending further inquiries

HOW ATTACK HORROR UNFOLDED

Abigail and Joseph leave a mother--and- toddler group at 3.30pm on April 20.

She first sees her attacker in a car at 3.45pm in Little Bookham, SurreyShe hurries along a footpath but he stops and follows her and grabs Joseph, holding a knife to his throatHe grabs her hair, and stabs her in the back of the neck before fleeing. It's 4pm. On April 25 suspect Richard Cazaly, 23, drives to Scotland, where at some point, he takes a suspected overdose.

On April 28, he is admitted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness and transferred to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he dies two days later

CAPTION(S):

PARALYSED: Abigail; MIRACLE: Abigail with husband Benoit and son Joseph