A BRAVE young woman tells today how she ensured a sex attacker was jailed, and urges other victims to follow her lead. Syreeta Lund reports.

A mother who underwent a terrifying indecent assault in her own home by a man she had known for five years is encouraging victims not to suffer in silence.

The 27-year-old, who wishes to keep her identity secret, said women who have suffered in a similar way should not be afraid to go to the police.

She explained the terrifying moment when she woke up from a deep sleep to find Jefferson Fraser, a family friend for years, virtually on top of her trying to grope her.

"I won't ever forget that. I have a young daughter and thought it was her coming into the room but then I just felt this heavy weight.

"He tried to roll me over and I just hit out as hard as I could. I didn't even know he was in the house. It was terrifying," she said.

Fraser, a father-of-two, of Nicholas Gardens, High Wycombe, was jailed for 15 months at Luton Crown Court on April 27 for the indecent assault on August 19 last year.

But luckily, the woman, from High Wycombe, had the confidence to tell her partner about the attack and he convinced her she should go to the police.

"I was petrified, but they were really good and did not try to rush me into making a statement. When I did make a statement, they dealt with it really sensitively and let mum sit in with me," she said.

And she has encouraged other victims, too frightened to speak to police and report assaults, to have the confidence to come forward.

She said: "I was frightened, but they do support you. I was faced with lots of people who knew my attacker in court and they stood up and said how nice he was.

"But it is not me who should feel any guilt. He came into my house and uninvited into my bed and left me terrified.

"It has affected my whole life. Waiting for the court case, I was the one who had to avoid going out in case I ran into him while he was on bail."

She added that she even stripped her room after it happened, throwing everything out which reminded her of what happened.

"I even threw my carpet out, everything. I slept on the sofa because I was scared and my daughter knows not to come into my room when I am asleep as I am liable to lash out.

"I am not the one who should be punished or made to feel guilty. He brought this on himself and should take the consequences," she said.

Fraser, 37, pleaded not guilty to indecent assault, even though the prosecutor, Brendon Davis, said DNA profiling revealed there was a 'billion to one chance' that he was not the attacker.

He was found guilty last month after a trial at Aylesbury Crown Court where a jury took just half an hour to make their decision.

The victim, who has a responsible managerial job, had to face recalling the horrific events in court.

She sobbed as she told the jury how the traumatic attack had come about after Fraser talked her and her friend into sharing a taxi home.

Her brother had been picked up on the way home as he had been baby-sitting for her friend. But problems started when she, her brother and Fraser got back to her house.

She told Midweek: "He told my brother he had no money. I went in the house and went to bed and did not know that he had talked my brother into offering him a place to sleep on the sofa at our house.

"The next thing I knew, I had woken up from a heavy sleep to find someone in my bed rubbing himself against me. I was terrified and just lashed out."

She said she ran into the bathroom and locked herself in.

Although she heard the front door of the house being opened and closed very quietly minutes after the attack, she stayed in the bathroom for an hour, completely frightened and confused about what had happened.

"I was petrified and when I did come out, I sat on my bed and stared at the television which wasn't even on. I didn't know what to do and felt very confused.

"I didn't know what was going on. I only knew it was Jeff because of the clothes he had on.

"I didn't even know he was in the house."

And although she is rebuilding her life in the aftermath of the court case, she believes going to the police was worth it.

She said: "He has a wife and children and their life has been affected by this but so has mine and my relationships with my partner and my family.

"I don't regret it and I think justice has been done."

Sex attacks: The grim figures

THERE are still a huge number of sex attacks which are not reported to police and never get as far as court.

Reported figures are still thought the tip of the iceberg, although Thames Valley Police have better support and communication networks such as the Chiltern Vale Family Protection Unit.

In the Thames Valley Police area, which covers Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, there were 156 reported rapes in 1997/98, 181 in 1998/99 rising to 218 in 1999/2000.

But police say that the figures do reflect the tide turning in terms of victims feeling more comfortable in coming forward to report the crime.

Nationally, statistics reflect the same trend. The Home Office statistics for England and Wales show 7,139 women reported having been raped in 1998/1999 and 19,463 complained of indecent assault.

In 1997/98 the figure had been 2,855 reported rapes and 14,112 indecent assaults.

Anyone who has been a victim of an assault or rape can contact the police or the Rape Crisis Centre in High Wycombe on: (01494) 462222