A mother-of-four has spoken out after she was racially abused and viciously attacked after confronting a man who appeared to be videoing her house.
When Reanne Aughton approached him to ask what he was doing he made “disgusting” racist remarks, punched her in the face and kicked her in the ribs.
After she fell to the floor he stepped on her hand, causing her to scream out in pain, before he ran off.
Detectives have been carrying out enquiries into the attack, including checking local CCTV footage, since the incident happened off Carsic Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, between 11.30pm and midnight on 28 August 2021.
Reanne, who identifies her four children as mixed Caribbean, suffered broken ribs, a broken jaw and finger, fractured cheekbone, bruising to her arms and cuts to her hands. She said she even had to eat soup through a straw for days afterwards because of the swelling.
She said: “I was taking the rubbish out when I saw the man at the bottom of my driveway who appeared to be videoing my house. I thought he was lost at first and I asked him if he was okay and why he was videoing my house.
“He came towards me and as he spoke I saw him curl his hand up into a fist as he punched me to the left side of my face, hitting my jaw.
“As I doubled over in pain he kicked me in the ribs which forced me to the floor. As I was the floor trying to catch breath he stood over me and stomped on my hand.
“I screamed out in pain and then he ran off.
“The words that came out of his mouth were just disgusting and I believe were in reference to me having mixed heritage children. Feeling frightened the man would return, I managed to pick myself up off the floor, despite being in a lot of pain, and ran inside the house, locking the door.”
Reanne went to hospital for treatment two days later and was later discharged.
She added: “I couldn’t eat properly for a few days after the attack and I had to have soup through a straw. The swelling and bruising has gone down but I’ve been told if my facial injuries don’t heal properly then I might need to have an operation.
“This whole incident has frightened me and left me feeling scared that this person may return. It has definitely left me feeling very weary of my surroundings and other people.
“I do not know of any reasons as to why someone would do this to me and I did not give anyone any permission to assault me. I am also frightened as to why this person would record my house on his phone.”
Reanne described her attacker as being white, about 5ft 7ins to 5ft 9ins tall, aged between 45 and 50, and of muscular build. He had a bald head and is believed to have a tattoo on his neck.
Detective Sergeant Dave Prest, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a shocking and unprovoked attack on Reanne which left her badly injured and extremely shaken.
“There is no place for hate crime in our communities and we are continuing to working hard to trace the person responsible for this racially-aggravated assault.
“Any crime perpetuated through ignorance, prejudice or hate is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it.
“We have carried out a number of enquiries as part of our investigation and I would encourage anyone who witnessed this incident, anyone who recognises the man from the description or who has any other information which could help us with our enquiries to come forward.”
Anyone with information is urged to call Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 119 of 1 September 2021. Alternatively people can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
