Woman who fought off sex attack sheds anonymity to speak about incident
She defended herself after he threw her into a hedge
Laura BellIn November last year a woman heroically fought off a sexual attack, as a man followed her through the city, then proceeded to throw her into a hedge and attempted to rape her.
A year later, in an interview with ITV News, Lucy Kucharik has waived her anonymity in order to speak out about the horrifying incident for the first time.
Kucharik, who was then 21-years-old, was walking through the city centre at midnight on November 1st, when Johnothan Holmes followed her for over a mile. Holmes was heavily drunk.
In an act of extreme bravery, the 21-year-old fought back, first punching him in the stomach, and then stabbing him in the face repeatedly with her keys. The attacker was left battered and bruised.
Kucharik told ITV that said she should have realised he was following her, but only did so when it was too late.
She explained: “It was just my instinct to turn around and stand my ground, so I punched him in the stomach and he ran at me and just picked me up and threw me over the hedge.
Before he attacked her, Holmes said: “You’re going to enjoy this”
“He was a massive guy. He was just using his weight and sort of smothering me.
“When he started giving up I knelt over him with my keys to his throat.
“I just cried for so long. It was just such a relief that they caught him.”
Holmes was later jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Kucharik was interviewed after speaking at an event in Rotherham aimed at supporting crime victims. You can watch the interview here.
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