A victim of deranged knife attacker Noel Dooley today admitted she was glad he had been found dead in his prison cell.

Former Bradford prostitute Nicola Hirst , who the madman stabbed 43 times, stressed she felt no hatred towards Dooley - but was pleased he could now never attack anyone else.

Last week the Telegraph & Argus reported how Dooley, pictured, already a convicted killer, was found hanged in the segregation unit of HMP Full Sutton near York.

In October 2000, the 42-year-old paranoid schizophrenic lured Miss Hirst to an isolated yard in the Listerhills red light district and carried out the attack. As she lay fighting for life, Dooley returned three times, whispering: "I will have to kill you because you can identify me."

At the time, the burly odd job man lived in a dilapidated caravan in Listerhills while on the run. After being freed from a life sentence for murder in 1998, Dooley had breached his release conditions and feared a return to prison.

In 1979 in Coventry, he had savagely attacked his married lover before hurling her into a canal, where she drowned.

More than 20 years later he struck again while Miss Hirst was working Bradford's streets to fund her heroin and crack cocaine addiction. Today, she has rebuilt her life, and said: "The attack made me a stronger and better person. It was the wake-up call I needed to turn my back on drugs and prostitution."

Describing the moment when she learned of Dooley's death she said: "I got a phone call while I was cleaning my mum's bedroom and I was so shocked I dropped the vacuum."

She said: "I'm not going to lie - I felt huge relief. It was like a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Before, there was always the thought that he'd be back on the streets one day.

"The probation service even asked me if I wanted to meet him. I would rather have killed myself."

She regularly suffered flashbacks and nightmares about her ordeal.

"Something triggers it off and suddenly I'm miles away. It is just like I am back at the scene again. It is really embarrassing because sometimes I will scream out in the middle of the day," she said.

Miss Hirst, 27, said her fear over Dooley's release or escape from jail had wrecked her life.

"Until last week I was planning to emigrate. Now I can stay here with my family. I had my first proper night's sleep for years yesterday and I am off the sleeping pills and anti-depressants," she said.

"My future is so much brighter. I am set to begin college and I am enjoying my life more than ever before."

Dooley's assault left her with more than 30 knife scars over her back and no feeling in one hand.

She said: "I used to think about the attack when I got up, throughout the day and before I went to sleep. Now it is just once or twice a day.

"Since he died I have gone through all sorts of emotions. I was frustrated he'd taken the cowards' way out and wouldn't serve his punishment. I felt sorry for him as well. But I've never felt anger towards him. I am just glad he'll never get the chance to do this to me or anyone else again."