By Hayley Robinson

hrobinson@thekmgroup.co.uk

A woman has spoken of the terrifying moment she was randomly attacked by a complete stranger as she walked to work.

Sadie Cole, 44, from Teynham, was walking from Sittingbourne railway station to Milton Regis, on December 5 last year, when she was struck on her head with what felt like an iron bar.

Her attacker, Trevor Cave, 32, of Park Road, Sittingbourne, was jailed last week for two-and-a-half years.

Judge Andrew Patience QC, at Maidstone Crown Court, said Cave was "a danger to women".

Mrs Cole, a mother of three, said she decided to start rebuilding her life after finding the strength to face Cave in court.

She said: "What worried me was what he might do to the next woman.

"I was hoping he'd get longer but I'm just glad he's behind bars."

The physical scars of the attack have healed but the mental ones run deep for attack victim Sadie Cole.

The 44-year-old mother of three was prescribed anti-depressants after she plunged into depression following the assault.

Mrs Cole said her 17-year marriage to husband Chris was also put under huge pressure, almost to the verge of splitting up.

But after finding the strength to face her attacker at Maidstone Crown Court, Mrs Cole decided it was time to start rebuilding her life.

She said: "I was in court twice. The first time I had a curtain around me so I didn’t have to see him, but by the second time my confidence had grown and I wanted to face him.

"He didn’t look at me but I looked at him a couple of times.

"I came off the anti-depressants after the court case. I wanted to start getting my life back. I didn’t want him to win."

Mrs Cole, who was 43 at the time of the attack, recalled the terrifying moment the thug struck her on the head.

She said: "I wasn’t aware of him at first, it was only when I reached McDonald’s [on the Sittingbourne Retail Park] that I heard his footsteps behind me.

"I carried on walking because normally people over take you and I thought that’s what he was going to do then I got to Church Street and he hit me – it shocked me more than anything. He ran off and I carried on walking and rang the police on my mobile.

"I was still on the phone near the zebra crossing near Domino’s Pizza when I saw him again. I stood there looking at him and I started shouting at the police to hurry up and come.

"I was wearing a woolly hat. I didn’t know I was hurt until the police asked if I was bleeding."

After the attack Mrs Cole was driven to work each day by a family friend, but since spring she has plucked up the courage to get the train to Sittingbourne station and walk to her job in Milton Regis.

She said: "I need to start getting my confidence back again.

"This has scared my three daughters especially my 16-year-old who doesn’t want to go out on her own. All I can say to her and other women is be careful and be aware."