Leon Campbell 21

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A brave young woman bit a teenager and kicked out at him in a bid to stop a "terrifying" sex attack along a secluded footpath after he followed her, a court has heard.

Leon Campbell, 19, followed the teenage victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and sexually assaulted her in a grassed area in Thetford.

Norwich Crown Court heard the victim had walked down a path past the Blaydon Bridge in Thetford and after a short distance became aware of "footsteps behind her".

Richard Potts, prosecuting, said the victim decided to run but "became somewhat breathless" and stopped near a grassed area off Canterbury Way when she turned and saw the defendant "right in front of her".

Mr Potts said Campbell "grabbed" the victim who described how he gave her a look to say he had "all this power" and could do "whatever he wanted to do".

The victim "tried so hard to scream but it was like nothing was happening".

Campbell tried to put his hand over the victim's mouth but she bit him and broke a fingernail with the defendant in the struggle.

He then threw the victim to the floor but was kicked out at by the teenager as she tried to stop him from attacking her.

But he was able to get his hands down her trousers and also touched her breasts.

After thinking he heard someone Campbell "got up and ran off".

The victim then ran home and broke down and said she had been "attacked and nearly raped".

Mr Potts said she was a vulnerable young woman walking home at night in a secluded area.

Campbell, of Toxteth, Liverpool, appeared at court on Friday (March 11) to be sentenced having previously admitted two sexual assaults at about 11.20pm on June 3 last year.

Before Campbell was sentenced, the victim read out a statement in which she described how her life "changed the day you did this to me".

She said: "I'm now unable to have sleep and have nightmares and have to have my dog or my boyfriend with me."

The victim, who now takes anti-depressants, said she has had to lock the windows in her bedroom as she was worried someone else would be able to get in.

She said she cannot go to sleep in silence and has to have the television on as all she can hear is her "telling you to stop" and the thud as she was thrown to the ground.

The victim said "I feel like I can't get myself out of this situation and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. "I feel what you have done to me will never go away".

Sentencing Campbell to an extended 10 year sentence made up of four years detention in a young offenders institute (YOI) and six years on licence, Judge Katharine Moore said he had subjected the victim to a "terrifying ordeal" and described it as a "predatory sex attack".

Judge Moore found Campbell to be a dangerous offender who posed a significant risk of serious harm by the commission of similar sort of offences.

The judge said the victim "struggled bravely" despite suffering "abject terror" and "fearing the very worst" adding that the consequences of the offence on her have been both "profound and enduring".

Adam Norris, mitigating, said the defendant was something of an "enigma".

He said Campbell was a young man, 19 now and 18 at the time, who is remarkably inarticulate and awkward.

Mr Norris said it was opportunistic in that they happened to be on the same path at the same time rather than it being targeted and insisted there was "no significant planning".

Campbell must also sign on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

A hearing to determine whether Campbell is to be made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) was adjourned until a later date.