Remember me
A housekeeper stabbed 42 times by her wealthy employers’ son has spoken of her terror after learning he could soon be let out of his secure mental health unit.
Joselia Pereira Do Nascimento, known as Josy, was alone at the Chelsea townhouse of property developer Graham Bourne and his art consultant wife Sylvia when their 26-year-old son Maximillian attacked her in February 2024.
During his trial last year, jurors heard a chilling recording of the emergency call Bourne made straight afterwards, in which he calmly said he was a ‘nice boy from Chelsea’ who had stabbed the ‘demon woman in my house’.
He was deemed unfit to stand trial, and was convicted in his absence of attempted murder during a paranoid psychotic episode.
He was detained indefinitely in a secure mental health unit, with release dependent on the decision of a specialist tribunal.
But last week, less than two years after the attack in which she nearly lost her life, Ms Nascimento, 31, was told that the hospital where he is being held had applied for him to have leave for ‘periods at a time’ under escort.
‘The moment I read the letter, I panicked,’ she told The Mail on Sunday. ‘All the memories of the blows to my face and body came flooding back. I still have a lot of physical pain from my injuries and scars, along with the psychological pain. I am terrified to walk the streets. I suffer panic attacks and flashbacks when I lie in bed.
‘This man tried to take my life, and I was lucky to survive. They said he wasn’t well enough to stand trial, but now he seems to be doing well. He should be brought back to court to answer for what he did.
Joselia Pereira Do Nascimento, known as Josy, was attacked by her boss's son, Maximillian Bourne in February 2024
The son of property developer, Graham Bourne and his art consultant wife Sylvia stabbed the housekeeper 42 times when she was at their Chelsea townhouse
‘He destroyed my life, and I don’t feel justice has been done.’
Ms Nascimento, who is from Brazil, began working for the Bournes as a maid in June 2022, later becoming a live-in employee at their £20million five-bedroom home.
The Home Office later found ‘conclusive grounds’ that she was a victim of modern slavery. On the night she was attacked, she was alone in the house with Bourne, after Mrs Bourne asked her to ‘look after’ him while she worked abroad for a few months.
‘I had my concerns as his behaviour could be a bit odd – he talked to himself and sometimes he slept in the bath,’ she recalls.
On the night of February 25, 2024, she heard Bourne outside her basement bedroom door, asking her to ‘come outside’. When she opened the door, he thrust a kitchen knife into her neck, face and arms before trying to throttle her, telling her she was ‘from evil’.
She managed to free herself and, bleeding profusely, called the police. Surgeons had to repair damage to her lungs, scalp, eye socket, chest, back and arms.
But her well-connected employers – Mrs Bourne is the great-granddaughter of former Brazilian president Epitacio Pessoa – refuse to pay compensation.
The judge at Bourne’s trial noted that despite being ‘extremely wealthy’, the family had offered ‘no help, no support, and nothing but a single text message while [Ms Nascimento] was in hospital’.
Ms Nascimento, who is in a shelter for trafficking victims, made a civil claim for damages, which she says the Bournes refuse to settle, leaving her feeling that ‘what happened to me doesn’t matter’.
Last night, her lawyer, Hal Branch, said he would take the case to court, adding: ‘The injuries Josy suffered affect her every day and will continue to do so. It is only right she receives compensation.’
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