9:24am Sunday 18th December 2005
By Nina Jacobs
A 25-year-old man who rescued a woman from the brink of death after she was pushed on to railway tracks by a complete stranger and viciously assaulted has been commended for his bravery.
Darren Butterfield was woken up by the sound of Maria Eguiluz's screams as she was being beaten around the head with ballast from the train track at Sutton Common station by Jason Searle in April this year.
Searle, 32, of Peterborough Road, Sutton, denied pushing the 51-year-old Spanish tourist off the platform, but was found guilty of attempted murder following a four-day trial at the Old Bailey last week.
He was jailed for life last Thursday for the brutal attack which left Ms Eguiluz in hospital for 10 days and was told he must serve a minimum of eight years before he could apply for parole.
Passing sentence, Judge David Paget QC described Searle as "a danger to the public" and how his "wholly irrational crime" had ruined the life of Ms Equiluz, who was left so traumatised she has since returned to Spain.
But he praised Mr Butterfield for his quick-thinking actions on the night of the incident on April 28, which he said could "well have been the reason it saved the victim's life".
It was announced in court after the trial had finished that Mr Butterfield, who was living in Conifer Gardens at the time of the attack, would receive a sheriff's award of £500 for his bravery.
The builder, who has since moved to Epsom, told the Sutton Guardian his initial thought on hearing Ms Eguiluz's cries for help was that she was a victim of a sexual assault.
"I had gone to bed but I had the window open. I thought at first it was kids I could hear noises so I went over to the window and realised it was a woman screaming.
"My girlfriend didn't want me to go out but I thought she Ms Eguiluz was getting raped. I just acted I didn't even think about it."
Mr Butterfield ran from his home which was just seconds from the station and shouted at Searle, who was standing over his victim on the track.
"I could see this bloke who was striking this woman. I shouted at him in fact, I swore at him to stop doing it. I had a look at his face and then he ran off."
By the time Mr Butterfield arrived at the station, Ms Eguiluz had managed to pull herself back on to the platform where she lay bleeding from serious wounds to her head.
Meeting the woman whose life he saved for the first time since the incident was an emotional experience for Mr Butterfield when he travelled to the Old Bailey last week.
"She said to me: I'm alive'. It was nice that she felt so grateful towards me. Maria wants us to keep in touch and has invited me to visit her in Spain next year."
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