Video 'ID parade' for Abigail

Abigail Witchalls may take part in an identity parade from her hospital bed in an attempt to identify her attacker.

She could be shown clips of suspects in an electronic video line-up.

The 26-year-old mother is paralysed from the neck down and unable to talk after being stabbed in the neck in front of her young son in the Surrey village of Little Bookham last Wednesday.

She is being treated at St George's hospital in Tooting where her 26-year-old husband Benoit, an engineer, has kept a bedside vigil.

A Surrey police spokesman confirmed they were considering the use of a video ID line-up under "controlled conditions" in her hospital room.

Victims are generally shown 20-second film clips of the suspect and five other people with no connection to the crime. Today two specialist women officers trained in interview techniques will continue to question Mrs Witchalls about the attack. She is able to respond by blinking and mouthing "yes" or "no".

She and her 21-month-old son Joseph are the only witnesses to the attack in a country lane.

The interview could take several days but Mrs Witchalls, who is pregnant with her second child, has already given crucial information on the assault. The questioning began yesterday when doctors allowed officers access to her for the first time since her admission.

She is being treated in the neurological unit and while dependent on a ventilator to regulate her breathing, she is said to be making a remarkable recovery.

A source close to the investigation said the detectives had focused first on "the obvious questions". The source said: "They had to home in on the key points as quickly as possible. Their first question was if she knew her attacker and what he looked like. They then put to her as much detail as they have gathered."

Police have refused to divulge details of her answers. Detectives said they will release news of significant developments in the investigation later today.

The source said of Mrs Witchalls: "She has been incredibly strong and is doing everything she can."

Her answers are being recorded on audio and video tape so they can be examined by experts on the 100-strong police team.

A 28-year-old man questioned for 30 hours over the weekend has been released on police bail. Officers also released without charge a 29-year-old woman. Police are still carrying out forensic examinations of a car and officers have carried out a search of the man's flat.

A police source said the man still remains a suspect. "We have got a number of leads we are following," he said. Detective Superintendent-Adrian Harper, who is heading the investigation, praised Mrs Witchalls's " enormous dignity and courage," adding: "I'm very pleased for Abigail and her family that her condition now appears to be stable and that she is able to communicate.

"Members of my team are now in the process of taking a statement from Abigail about what happened.

"Apart from her son Joseph, Abigail is the only person who saw her attacker and the information that she may be able to give us will be crucial to our investigation.

"Abigail and her family have handled the terrible situation in which they find themselves with enormous dignity and courage and I believe that Abigail will want to give us all the help that she can to find the person that attacked her."