A SUFFOLK woman today spoke of terror today as a crazed thug rained down blows on her in a late night attack.The woman, who declined to be named, was left with a cut to her lip and bruises after the man, hurling a tirade of abuse, punched her to the floor and repeatedly kicked her while she was on the ground.

By James Fraser

A SUFFOLK woman today spoke of terror today as a crazed thug rained down blows on her in a late night attack.

The woman, who declined to be named, was left with a cut to her lip and bruises after the man, hurling a tirade of abuse, punched her to the floor and repeatedly kicked her while she was on the ground.

In another violent incident less than 24 hours later another woman was attacked in Tacket Street, Ipswich, only a few hundred yards away from where the first victim was assaulted.

The first assault on the 39-year-old Ipswich woman happened early Saturday morning at the rear of the Evening Star offices in Turret Lane - and has left the woman shaken as she recovers from her injuries.

Following a night out with her 51-year-old boyfriend, the woman was trailed by two strangers as she made her way home on her own. Her assailant attacked "for no reason whatever".

"Something has to be done about this guy. Even if he was drunk to do that to somebody, even if your out of your tree, you need serious help," she said.

Recounting the events of the night - which she spent at two town centre bars and a nightclub - the woman recalled the same man verbally abusing her in the New York Exchange Bar on Dog's Head Street after she brushed past him.

Her partner had left just before because he was tired, said the woman who works at a travel firm in Ipswich.

"I had never seen him before in my life," she added

Despite a warning from one of the doorstaff, the man, accompanied by another man who had tried to restrain his friend, followed her when she left and headed towards Brannigans at around midnight. She spotted the pair in Brannigans, although she had seen them join the queue to get into nearby Liquid.

Shortly after 1am, she walked towards the cab rank on Major's Corner because the queue was too long at the taxi rank at Cardinal Park.

It was by the Evening Star offices on Turret Lane that the man, who had been following all the while, pounced.

"He grabbed my bag and threw it over the wall into the premises of the Evening Star," she said. "His friend tried to stop him saying 'Don't do it'. First of all, I got punched in the face. I stepped back so the impact wasn't as bad as it could've been.

"I was kicked and punched on my sides and I ended up on the floor and this guy was kicking me when I was down.

"His friend was in a state of panic. He had his hands on his head and was pacing around. He didn't know what to do about the situation.

"The man kicking me kept calling me 'a fat bitch'. I had never seen him before and if I ever see him again it will be too soon."

The woman eventually sought help from the night porter at the Star offices who called police and an ambulance, whose crew treated her at the scene.

The latest woman to be set upon, who is believed to be in her early twenties, suffered a bleeding nose and dislocated finger when she was attacked outside the Opium Lounge at 12.15am. Two men have been arrested and released on police bail pending further inquiries.

The news comes as Richard Higgins, 18, of Gosford Way, Felixstowe was due in court charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Pc Tim Cohen in the early hours of Friday.

His co-accused Mark Smith of Gulpher Road, Ipswich is due in court on Wednesday.

Pc Cohen, who was left with seven staples in his head after trying to break up a fight in Felixstowe, was today said to be recuperating at home.

Anyone with information about the Turret Lane attack should telephone Ipswich police on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.