Brutally beaten and left for dead

If goodwill alone were enough the mother-of-two would be well on the way to recovery. As it stands her condition is critical - but stable.

A major Police inquiry centres on the hamlet of Kinton, near Leintwardine, this week as detectives determine how Mrs Thomas met with massive multiple head injuries.

Something 'spooked' the 36-year-old when she called at her former home, a property known as 'Candlemas', on Friday morning (September 28). She phoned the husband from whom she is separated to say so - it was the last contact anyone is known to have had with her.

Between that call around 9.15am and the arrival of police soon afterwards, Mrs Thomas was subject to a 'vicious and sustained' attack, which is being treated as a murder attempt.

Officially, she 'may have disturbed one or more intruders'. But this scenario might not be as simple as it seems.

Detective Superintendent Mark Howard is sure a breakthrough lies in the chain of circumstance his Major Incident Team (MIT) has linked together.

There was nothing unusual in Mrs Thomas being at the home she left relatively recently for a new address nearby.

Her husband had remained there and she would regularly come round to collect belongings.

On the day of the attack she took their two children, both of whom live with her, to the village school, bought a paper from Griffiths' general store at around 9.10am and arrived at 'Candlemas' some five minutes later.

Within this time-span, the investigation effectively starts. Officers want to hear from anyone who saw Mrs Thomas in the shop or driving her red Ford Orion, registration number K 227 RDF.

On entering the house she became uneasy and phoned her husband, working in the West Midlands area, worried that 'things seem out of place' as if a break-in had occurred.

He told her to leave if concerned. She said she'd check and call back.

No one else should have been inside at the time. So reports of movement around 'Candlemas' between the previous evening and about 9.30am on the day are vital.

When Mr Thomas couldn't resume contact he raised the alarm; his 999 call to West Midlands Police was passed on to Hereford. In the interim, it is thought Mrs Thomas went upstairs to investigate her suspicions - officers found her unconscious on the first floor.

She was airlifted to Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, then transferred to a specialist neurological life support unit at that city's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

There, her family is keeping a bedside vigil, accompanied by police liaison officers.