A MOTHER who was gunned down by one of the North-East's most notorious gangsters is in fear of her life after being stabbed.

Heather Honey, 28, has spoken at length from her secret hideaway for the first time since she testified against violent criminal Stephen Abadom.

Ex-boxer Abadom was given a life sentence last year for shooting Mrs Honey in her County Durham home over a £200 unpaid debt.

Mrs Honey has also told how she was stabbed when she returned secretly to Perkinsville, near Chester-le-Street, to see her ten-year-old son.

She is still receiving regular hospital treatment after the knife pierced her bowel, and is too scared to leave her home, which is monitored by security cameras.

Mrs Honey believes there may be people still trying to kill her.

Her MP is considering taking up her claims that the stabbing incident was not properly dealt with by Durham Police. She said: "I feel like I've done my bit for my country and for justice and I've lost everything because of it.

"I can't even see my son, even at Christmas, and was once told I would be arrested at the County Durham border if I tried to go to see him.

"I feel that I've been let down by the police since Stephen Abadom was sentenced. I don't believe I've had protection and since I have been stabbed I get these attacks of paranoia. I want the person who stabbed me brought to justice.

"My partner is an ex-soldier and all I can do is rely on him to protect me."

Mrs Honey dismissed newspaper reports that she planned to leave the country. "The first I heard about it was when my son called up to ask where are we going," she said.

Shaven-headed Abadom, of New-castle, who once bit off part of a bouncer's nose, confronted Mrs Honey about the unpaid debt - which she owed to a man who was himself in debt to Abadom - in July 1999.

He shot her in the back as she ran away. As paramedics worked to save her, Abadom made a call to her mobile phone and said: "Will I get my £200 now?"

Abadom got a life sentence but was recommended to serve eight years. He had admitted unlawfully wounding Mrs Honey, blackmailing her and possessing a firearm while committing an indictable offence.

He was accompanied by John Howe, also of Newcastle, who was also jailed for 18 months for attempted blackmail.

A spokesman for Durham Police said the stabbing incident last August had been fully investigated but the Crown Prosecution Service had decided not to pursue the case on the evidence available