A Belfast woman believes a man was paid to kill her after she had her face slashed multiple times in the middle of an Alicante street last week.
Madison Allen, 20, known as the wife of jailed murder suspect Jonny Smyth, told the Spanish Eye today that her attacker may have been targeting her because of her husband’s criminal connections.
Allen, who has lived in Spain for the last three years, said an unknown man pounced on her from behind while she was walking to her car.
She suffered several slash wounds to her face, neck and shoulder and required stitches following the assault.
‘I think someone was paid to do it,’ she told this newspaper.
Asked whether she saw the attacker, Allen replied: ‘No. He pulled my hair back and started slicing me so I fell.
‘Obviously he thought he got my neck and he ran off. It all happened within one minute.’
Allen said she was attacked as she left a shop and walked towards her vehicle.
‘I wasn’t home. I was coming out of the shop to get into my car,’ she explained.
Allen said the assailant approached from behind, meaning she never got a clear look at him.
Police are investigating the attack, although Allen said she has not yet received any significant updates from officers.
‘Police are involved and I get my stitches out in five days,’ she said.
When asked why she believed she may have been targeted, Allen pointed to the fact that her husband is currently in prison.
‘My husband is in prison and I’m alone now so I’m an easy target,’ she said.
‘Not a lot of people like my husband.’
Despite the severity of the attack, Allen said she considers herself fortunate to have survived.
Images shared with the Spanish Eye show deep cuts running across her cheek, jawline, neck and shoulder.
Spanish police have not announced any arrests.
The Spanish Eye has contacted the Policia Nacional for comment.
Smyth is currently one of the main suspects in the ongoing investigation into the murder of Belfast father-of-two John George.
His body was found near Rojales, Alicante, in January 2025 after he disappeared the previous month. Smyth has denied wrongdoing.
