Why it matters: The conviction brings justice for a victim who suffered a terrifying ordeal in what should have been the safety of her own home, forcing her to move away from the area to feel secure again.
The details: Mallett was convicted of both attempted murder and aggravated burglary with intent to steal after the attack on 7 December last year. Officers were called to Admiral Road just before 16:55 to reports of a burglary during which a woman sustained stab wounds.
The victim, a woman in her 40s, was upstairs when she heard a noise and went to investigate. She encountered Mallett on the stairs – he was not previously known to her. She described seeing him pull a knife from the side of his body before he lunged forward, stabbing her eight times in the neck, face, hands, shoulder and leg.
The woman managed to fight back, ultimately getting him off her by kicking out and causing him to stumble down the stairs, where he fell into furniture. She then managed to run out of her house to seek help from a neighbour and saw Mallett run away towards Ellenbrook Park.
How he was caught: Shortly after the attack, police officers searching Ellenbrook Park were approached by a man claiming to be the victim of an attempted knifepoint robbery. When officers asked for his name, he said it was "Elliott Mallett".
Mallett was taken home, where other officers began taking a statement from him as a supposed robbery victim. However, discrepancies began appearing between his account to officers in the park and the statement he was giving at home.
Officers raised concerns about these discrepancies, leading the senior investigating officer to treat Mallett as a suspect for falsifying evidence.
The evidence: In the early hours of 8 December, officers arrested Mallett at his home and seized his phone. Doorbell camera footage from his front door showed he had left the house at 15:45 on the Saturday afternoon, wearing all black clothing, including a black puffer jacket with his hood partially covering his face - matching the victim's description.
A member of the public found a knife in Swallowtail Close on Sunday morning, approximately four minutes' walk from the victim's house.
Analysis of Mallett's phone revealed that at 18:19 on the day of the attack, he had messaged a friend saying "something had happened" and that he "had almost got stabbed and some woman got stabbed as well and put in hospital".
None of the officers had explained the nature of the victim's injuries to him, and no information had been released to the media at this stage, showing Mallett had prior knowledge of the attack.
What they're saying: Detective Constable Alice Gaffer, the officer in the case, said: "Elliott Mallett subjected the victim to a terrifying ordeal in her own home – the one place everyone should have the right to feel safe and secure.
"The victim demonstrated incredible bravery in fighting him off and then managing to escape to a neighbour's house to raise the alarm. It is a miracle her physical injuries were not more serious given the size of the knife she was attacked with."
She added: "I know this incident has had a huge impact on the victim's life and caused her great emotional cost. It has affected her sense of security, her confidence and her ability to get back to life as normal. It ultimately forced her to move away from the area so she could feel safe again."
What's next: Mallett has been remanded in custody pending a sentencing hearing at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday, 5 December. The jury found him guilty of both attempted murder and aggravated burglary by unanimous decision.
