CHRISTMAS 2009 is one Emira Perryman will want to forget as soon as possible.

First her son was brutally attacked on his own doorstep by masked raiders who grabbed him by the throat and repeatedly punched him on December 17.

Then just four days later the mother-of-three discovered her teenage daughter, Leona, had vanished during a holiday in California with her 45-year-old boyfriend.

Days of worry turned to panic when Emira and her partner Lee discovered Leona’s boyfriend, Paul Atkinson, had been arrested on a charge of possessing a “concealed, dangerous weapon.”

But at 9.30pm on New Year’s Eve a baffled Leona called her mum’s Ringwood Road, Poole, home to say she had been stopped in the street by a stranger and told her photograph was in all the newspapers in California.

“She had no idea that she had been reported missing and that people were worried about her,” said mum-of-three Emira.

“She and Paul had had a tiff and she had been staying in a hostel. She forgot to take her phone charger with her so she had not been in touch with anyone.”

Emira said she and her partner Lee Turner were ecstatic to hear from Leona, as was her 22-year-old brother Anthony, the victim of the nasty pre-Christmas attack.

“This has been the worst Christmas ever. We also have a three-year-old son, Callum, so we did our best for him, but it’s been terrible. Now we hope everything will be all right and get back to normal” said Emira.

Leona, 19, a former pupil of St Edward’s and Rossmore schools, met Paul Atkinson at the end of the summer. “She had been with him for about six weeks and the first time I met him was when I dropped her off when they were going to California in October,” said Emira. “I was surprised he was so much older but I only thought he was in his 30s. She’s 19 so I couldn’t stop her and she was so excited about going to America for three months.”

Emira said the pair visited New York for five days before travelling to California where they have been ever since.

“Paul phoned us to say she was missing on December 21 and we asked him to tell the police. My heart was in my mouth.”

Emira, who has five brothers and two sisters, added: “We’re a big family and everyone’s been really worried – we’re all so happy she’s safe.”