Norwich knife victim Julie Cooper still needs 'answers' 20 years on

Julie Cooper, now 48, appealed on the eve of the attack's 20th anniversary for anyone with information to come forward

A woman who was left for dead and had her face rebuilt after a brutal knife attack 20 years ago has said she needs "answers" about who the culprit was.

Julie Cooper was walking back to work from a lunch break on 15 August 2000 when she was stabbed and robbed in an alley off Martineau Lane, Norwich.

The mother-of-two, 48, said she remained in physical pain every day and wanted to know why she was targeted.

"Having the answers why it happened might help," she said.

"I may appear strong but the effects on my mental health and my family's - and what we've been through - you wouldn't wish that on anybody."

During a fresh appeal for information, Mrs Cooper told how she nearly passed out from "shock" when she saw her injuries for the first time

The trainee accountant had popped home for some of her daughter's cake - from her third birthday the previous day - before returning to work when her face was slashed to the bone and her handbag stolen.

"From my eyes down was broken, smashed in," said Mrs Cooper. "My jaw was snapped. I had back teeth and my front tooth knocked out."

She remembers nearly collapsing from "shock" when she first looked in the mirror after waking up days later in hospital.

Mrs Cooper underwent countless operations - including having bone removed from her leg to rebuild her face.

Mrs Cooper was stabbed and robbed as she walked through this tree-lined footpath

She said she still struggled to understand the motive of the attack.

"I feel it was random and whoever did it had a grudge against women, or I looked like someone they knew and they had a grudge against that person," she said.

A handbag, similar to this one, was stolen from Mrs Cooper in the attack

Mrs Cooper said she had been "determined" to carry on and had found a "new normal" since the attack.

In 2017, she achieved her long-held dream to qualify as an accountant; has waved her daughters - now 23 and 24 - off to university; and recently celebrated her 25th wedding anniversary.

She said although talking in public was difficult, "it's needed to show people what I have been through".

Police believed Mrs Cooper only survived due to her surgeons' skills.

Andy Guy, who manages Norfolk Police's cold cases, said he believed there was a "small nucleus of people who know the suspect".

"The level of violence was as high as it could be," he said.

A reconstruction of the attack was featured on BBC Crimewatch