A man has been charged over an attack on a pregnant woman who lost her baby as it emerged last night that she waited more than an hour for an ambulance that never arrived.
Malorie Bantala, 21, who was 32 weeks pregnant, was pushed to the ground by two men in motorbike helmets, who stamped on her 'clearly visible' stomach, according to detectives.
Last night London Ambulance Service issued an apology after it was revealed police had to take Malorie to hospital themselves after waiting 70 minutes for an ambulance that never arrived.
She was taken to a south London hospital after the attack near her home in Peckham on Monday, but medics discovered there was no foetal heart beat and the baby had died.
Malorie is now fighting for her life in a 'critical condition' after suffering internal bleeding. She was transferred to an intensive care unit overnight.
Police have charged Kevin Wilson, 20, of South East London, with child destruction, contrary to the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, and grievous bodily harm with intent.
He will appear before Magistrates later this morning.
Malorie's mother Ida, 49, spoke of her horror at finding her daughter lying in the street.
She said she was upstairs in her flat when someone came screaming to her door shouting: 'Malorie's mum, Malorie's mum, come quickly.'
She said: ' I rushed down and there she was just lying on the pavement with the police.
'She was just crying and crying.
'If you see your daughter like that, it's awful. Words can't explain it.
'Then an about an hour later maybe they took her to hospital and I went with her.
'Malorie was so excited about having the baby and we were all pleased for her. I wanted to be a grandma. She was so happy and now she is sick in hospital.'
Police said two men, both black and aged in their 20s, ran off in the direction of Denmark Road still wearing crash helmets after the attack near Malorie's home in Talfourd Place.
Police said the two men wore crash helmets and may have arrived on a moped or motorbike.
Detectives have described the attack as an 'unconscionable and shocking act'.
Ms Bantala, a cleaner who lives with Malorie, as well as her three other children, Samantha, 17, Bradley, 15, and Romeo, 11, has been to visit her daughter in hospital every day.
The mother-of-four, originally from the Congo, said: 'Malorie doesn't work on Mondays but she went out at about 5pm .
'Then, just after 8pm , someone came running up to my flat shouting for me to come down.
'We've lived here since 2001 and never had any trouble at all. She finished uni and then went to work.'
A neighbour dialled 999 at 8.16pm on Monday but more than an hour later at 9.25pm police were forced to cancel the request and take Malorie to hospital in the back of their car.
A 40-year-old neighbour, who helped Malorie after she was attacked, said: 'The ambulance hadn't arrived after more than an hour.
'The neighbour who found her said, 'Look, she is pregnant' and the police ended up taking her.
'I helped her up and she thought she was bleeding so I helped her to my toilet.
'If the ambulance came earlier maybe they could have saved the baby.'
Another neighbour added: 'She said she felt wet and said I think my waters have broken.'
A spokesman for London Ambulance Service said: 'We are very sorry that we were unable to send an ambulance. We were called at 8.16pm and police cancelled the ambulance at 9.25pm.
'We are now looking into the circumstances of why this happened.'
One neighbour who did not wish to be named said: 'She's a girl who lived upstairs and we have watched her grow up, finish school, start work and then get ready to have her baby.
'I was just on my way home from work, I get in about 8.15 and I saw her lying on the floor just to the right of my house.
'I said, 'Oh my god, what are you doing on the floor?' And then the police arrived. But it was an hour before they left to take her to hospital .
'And no ambulance ever turned up even though neighbours kept calling and kept calling.
'It's so awful - this is such a quiet street - you never expect something like this.'
Detective Chief Inspector Robert Pack from Scotland Yard said: ' It is quite clear she was heavily, heavily pregnant. She was given first aid in the street and taken to hospital .
'That child was totally viable. The law says at 28 weeks the child is viable of independent life.
'It has had a purely devastating impact of that young lady's life and the sheer nastiness of the crime.
'The hospital did all the necessary checks, during the course of that night and the early morning no foetal heart beat was detected.
'She is fighting for her life, she is very poorly unfortunately and been transferred to intensive care overnight.
'She has friends and family around her and we are hoping she makes a full recovery. She certainly knows she has lost her child.
'She has been conscious and we have a specialist officer liaising with her in providing an account and a timeline.
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