Safiya Anna Haverty, 28, has been convicted of attempting to kidnap a woman near Andover after driving a van into her, dragging her towards the vehicle and strangling her. The victim escaped and sought help from passers-by; the case matters because it involved a violent attack on a stranger and relied on several forms of evidence to identify the perpetrator.

A jury at Winchester Crown Court found Haverty guilty of kidnapping, intentional strangulation, assault causing actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice, while Haverty had already admitted dangerous driving. The incident took place on Micheldever Road on 2 March, and prosecutors cited witness accounts, number-plate recognition records, mobile-phone data and forensic evidence; sentencing is scheduled for 13 November.