A MODEL who was raped and stabbed shortly after starting a new life in the sun has returned to a Spanish holiday island to see her attacker in court.

Cheryl Maddison, now 25, of Murton, County Durham, was stabbed in the chest and left to die in a pool of her own blood in Magaluf, Majorca, almost five years ago.

Today (Tuesday, January 8) she saw Mohamed Fadel El Anssari, who is accused of carrying out the attack, across the court room in Palma, the island’s capital.

The 31-year-old waiter, from Morocco, was arrested in July 2011 and has been charged with attempted murder and rape.

The three day hearing is expected to last until Thursday Miss Maddison, who has waived her right to anonymity and been summoned to appear at the court, said: “It’ll all be done and dusted at the end and I’m so looking forward to the end of it all.”

Miss Maddison escaped with her life by playing dead during the attack in May 2008.

She added: “I’ve known this court case was coming for well over a year and I knew I had to do this, so I’ve time to get used to it, conquer my nerves and stay strong.”