Priest tells of attack by man he helped

Pretoria - Nearly unconscious after being beaten up and strangled, a Pretoria priest wondered if his life was over after the man who attacked him told him he was going to kill him.

Lying on the lawn in the grounds of his house and church, blood dripping from the open wounds on his face and body, Father Craigh Laubscher thought that was where he would die on Sunday – the feast of All Saints.

On Tueday, Laubscher spoke to Pretoria News shortly after he was discharged from hospital. Bruises on his face and neck tell the story of a brutal attack with a drill.

“I’m still in some pain and I have to administer medication to myself because I have some protein in my blood. The doctor wanted to keep me for one more day but approved me going home if I adhered to his medical directions,” he said.

Laubscher was attacked on Sunday night by a Mozambican he had offered help to days earlier.

According to the clergyman, his attacker asked him for money for a bus ticket back to his native country. The priest gave him food and prayed for him.

On Sunday

night “I came out of the house to check if all the gates on the property were locked. I saw him (the Mozambican) and actually asked him if he was okay and needed something.

“Then he attacked me and told me he was going to kill me. We struggled for about half an hour. It felt very long. He also tried to stab me with me an object because I felt piercing into my skin. When he strangled me I thought maybe I should just give up and play dead and he would stop”.

Once overpowered, the priest was locked in a room in his house where he later managed to call for help. His attacker made off with donations.

Laubscher said he was already eager to get back to his parishioners despite his archbishop’s instruction to take a few days off.

“I can’t let this get me down. I will say mass but take the afternoons off to rest a bit.”

Jokingly, he added: “Now I won’t even be able to do my first 94.7 Cycle Challenge – I was looking forward to that.”

Laubscher has no intention of leaving the St John Fisher Catholic Church in Lynnwood.

“

This is my parish and I have a duty towards them.

“We will have to look at implementing some extra security around the church and house and just be a little more cautious, but I will never turn away a needy hand.”

Pretoria News

• Priest brutally beaten by man he helped