Woman and puppy attacked by dog walker in Leicestershire beauty spot

A young woman has suffered severe facial injuries after she was attacked in broad daylight as she walked her 12-week-old puppy in Leicestershire.

Rachel Matusiewicz, a beauty therapist from Barrow-upon-Soar, was hit was a blunt object and pushed to the ground at around 2.15pm last Wednesday (24 November) in Bradgate Park.

She said her attacker was another dog-walker, a man with two labradors.

She said they exchanged pleasantries as they walked past each other, but then she felt a stone hurled just past her head.

Ms Matusiewicz said she turned around to photograph the man on her phone, but he then came up to her, was extremely abusive, grabbed her, and pushed her to the ground.

"The sounds coming from Rolo as he lay on his back made my heart almost stop."

Ms Matusiewicz said: "During the incident, my puppy, Rolo, was thrown several feet in the air and landed on his back.

"I have never experienced something quite so traumatic."

She was carrying 12-week-old Rolo at the time of the attack.

At the same time as she was struck around the head by what she thinks may have been a rock, Ms Matusiewicz said the man also stole her phone.

She needed hospital treatment and has been left very shaken since the attack.

In a post on social media, she described her injuries: "I suffered a head injury, quite a deep cut, which needed medical treatment at the hospital, and a sprained/bruised wrist."

"Robbery doesn't quite cut it - the effect that this incident has had on me is too difficult and complex to try to articulate," Ms Matusiewicz says

Ms Matusiewicz said: "It's fair to say that it has set me back considerably."

She also shared her description of the man on social media, in the hope that it will help identify them sooner.

Ms Matusiewicz described him as a "white male, early-mid 30s, stocky athletic build, approximately 5'8'' in height".

She added he had a "bull dog/goblin like horrible face".

She said he had a, "Leicester/Coalville accent, had two labradors - one white and one chocolate - fully grown.

"[He] was wearing a blue sports top and bottoms, looked like they belonged to some sort of sporting academy.

"He was wearing a black rucksack, had a silver drinks flask and perhaps a cap. He had dark eyes and features."

In a statement, Leicestershire Police said: "Officers are continuing to investigate a report of a robbery in Bradgate Park last week."

"No arrests have been made at this time and enquiries are ongoing.

"Any witnesses or anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting reference 21*685830."