FROZEN WITH FEAR

The 44-year-old was attacked with a knife after confronting a man hiding in bushes nearby.

The woman, who is too frightened to be named, said: “Every time I close my eyes all I can see is his massive brown eyes staring at me. I can’t get them out of my head.”

She was bringing in a wheeled bin at the time – a job usually done by one of her two daughters.

“It was pure chance I decided to do it,” she said. “I keep thinking it could have been her, so in a way I’m glad it was me.”

She said she had been horrified to think she was about to be raped, and is mystified about why the man was hiding by her house.

“He had the chance to get in the house and steal as the front door was left open for a few minutes as I opened the garden gate,” she said.

She is now afraid to leave her home in Earlsheaton.

The attack happened in Frances Road at 5.50pm on Thursday July 19 after the woman got home from work.

The man grabbed her by the neck and pushed her against a wall when she challenged him.

He then scratched her face with a knife before running away.

“The weirdest thing was that he didn’t speak,” said the woman. “He didn’t ask for anything or tell me to do anything.

“Afterwards I just froze. Then I ran to my friend’s and called police.”

The woman now wants Kirklees Council to get rid of the privet hedge where the man was hiding, fearing someone could lurk there again.

“If not, we’ll have to move house,” she said.

The attacker is described as white, in his 30s, skinny and around 5ft 10ins tall.

He had dark shaved hair and stubble and wore a red, hooded top and a black, waterproof, waist-length jacket. He had a sovereign ring on one of his fingers.

Contact Det Sgt Matt Hawker on 01924 431022, via 101, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.