‘I’m afraid to go into uni after I was nearly abducted’

First-year Lauren Raynor-Dixon says she is still afraid to leave the house after she was nearly abducted last week.

The Leeds resident was on her way back to her partner’s house when a man tried to force her into his car on Swincar Avenue in Yeadon. After she narrowly escaped, she was almost hit by an oncoming car.

Her ordeal has meant that Lauren, who now suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, still struggles to go outside.

She said: “I haven’t been able to go into Uni because I’m just too scared. I’ve had two essays due in this week but I haven’t been able to do them because I can’t concentrate for more than ten minutes.”

The Theatre and Performance student was speaking to her fiancé Matthew on the phone when a man driving a Ford Fiesta drove up alongside her and asked her for ‘help’.

“When he started asking me for help, I was being quite cautious. I said I wasn’t interested and I was just going home.

“Then he started saying really weird stuff like ‘It won’t hurt’ and ‘I’m lonely’.”

Then the man got out the car and grabbed Lauren’s arm.

“It was quite a well lit street so I didn’t think he’d try and grab me, but I guess I was wrong.

“He grabbed my arm quite forcefully. It was a grip that said ‘I’m not going to let you go'”

As Lauren struggled free, she stumbled onto the road and was almost hit by an oncoming car. Escaping her attackers, she managed to make it home.

“First thing I did when I locked the door was just sit on the stairs and cry. Fortunately my fiancé managed to ring me and calm me down a bit.

“I suffer from PTSD, and this has made me scared to go outside. The next day I was putting something in the bin and I needed my partner to come to the end of the drive with me.

“I can just about go outside in the daytime, but I have to be with someone. I can’t go out on my own or at night.”

Swincar Avenue in Yeadon

The assailant is described as being an Asian male in his late twenties; wearing jeans, trainers and a navy and grey zip-up jacket. He was driving a blue 2007 Ford Fiesta.

West Yorkshire Police have appealed for anyone with information to call 101.