Woman bites off part of attacker's tongue
A woman has told of how she bit off part of the tongue of a man who attacked her in an alleyway for DNA evidence.
Adele Barber, speaking on British television, said she had been walking home around 5pm one night when a man ran up from behind her and pushed her against a fence, The Telegraph reports.
The 29-year-old said she had been attacked a decade ago but there was not enough evidence to convict the suspect, and she did not want that to happen again.
"As soon as he pushed me up against the fence he tried to kiss me and forced his tongue into my mouth,” she said.
“I thought 'right', this left him vulnerable, I was just going to bite down as hard as I can, it will show it's not consensual in any way, shape or form, get as much DNA as I can and try and cause enough pain to get this guy off me."
She said after biting off part of his tongue and clawing at his face, he eventually relented and she was able to flee and run home, with this tongue still in her mouth.
Ms Barber called police as soon as she got home, even before telling her husband what had happened.
They told her to put the piece of flesh in a sterile pot, which she did.
Two months later, her attacker committed further offences and the DNA samples were matched.
Her attacker was convicted of three sexual assaults after he was deemed not to have the mental capacity to enter a plea.
He has been committed to a psychiatric unit indefinitely.
Ms Barber, who waived her right to anonymity as a victim of sexual assault, had this message for others who might find themselves in the same situation.
"The most important thing is to get as much evidence as you can,” she said.
“Obviously in that situation you can't control what your body does, you can freeze.
“But you can fight back as much as you can and get to the police as quickly as you can."
News break – February 3
