A reality TV personality from Canary Wharf - who was bitten on her face during a night out in Ilford - is offering a £5,000 reward to anyone who can help police track down her sex attacker.
Jodie Weston had been on her way to a bar in Ilford town centre on February 16 when she was preyed upon by a black-clad man just before midnight.
Waiving her legal right to anonymity, the 25-year-old star of Channel 5’s “Rich Kids Go Skint” told the Advertiser about the traumatic assault in the hope it help will catch the culprit and prevent future attacks.
She spoke of how she was walking through a pathway leading from the car park in Clements Road towards Winston Way when she sensed she was being followed.
“I glanced over my left shoulder and noticed a guy about 10 metres behind me,” she said.
“So I started walking faster and thought ‘maybe I am being paranoid’.
“But within two seconds he was right next me.”
She said: “Something came over me and I was so frightened.
“He said to me in a very soft quiet voice ‘hey beautiful, where are you going?’”
Jodie ignored the comment, avoiding making eye contact, and continued apace.
But the man cornered her against a wall, blocking her path.
He began groping Jodie’s midriff and leg.
“It was almost as if he was trying to show that he was powerful and in control,” she said.
“He starting rooting through the pockets of his hoody for what felt like a long, long time.”
She feared that he might have been searching for a knife or weapon.
“I thought ‘is he going to rob me? Is he going to rape me?’” she added.
“And it felt like he was getting off on that.”
Jodie spoke of how the man then gripped the left side of her face and proceeded to bite into her jawline.
“It was very, very painful,” she said. “I am amazed it did not break the skin.
“It has been 11 days now and there is still bruising.”
The attacker sprinted off as Jodie let out a “blood-curdling” scream.
Jodie catiously made her way back to her car and returned home.
“I don’t know how I did it – it took me five minutes to turn on the ignition,” she said.
“I never want to return to Ilford again,” she told the Recorder.
“It’s given me anxiety attacks.
“Now I do not go out of the house at night. It’s been 10 days now.”
Jodie reported the incident to the police after she got home.
They took DNA samples from her cheeks which she understand could take weeks to come back with results.
She has decided to wave her right to anonymity, and offer a reward, in the hope her profile can help ensure the culprit is caught sooner.
“I don’t want there to be another girl,” she said.
She described her attacked as a light-skinned Asian man of around 5ft 9inches in height.
He was wearing a black zip-up hoody and a black tracksuit bottoms with no visible logo.
A Met Police spokesman confirmed officers were called to reports of an assault near Clements Road car park in the town centre at about 12.15am on Sunday, February 17.
He said: “It is believed a woman in her 20s was walking away from the car park down an alleyway when she was followed by a man who asked her where she was going.
“He then sexually assaulted her and bit her on the face before fleeing the scene.
“Investigations continue and no arrests have been made.”
Call police with information on 101 quoting reference 186/17Feb or Jodie on ilfordattack@gmail.com
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