Police praise for repelling attack

Press, 26 February 1987, Page 4

Police praise for repelling attack

The woman who used a blast of fly spray to repel a man who attacked her in her home in Sydenham early on Tuesday morning has been praised by the Christchurch police. “We think she did a good job,” said Detective Sergeant Neville Higgison, who is investigating the i attack, t He said that the woman

had done what was taught in police self-defence classes for women, and had kept somethihg in her bedroom which she could use to defend herself. The police tell women on the course to keep an aerosol can, such as hairspray, in their bedrooms. Tte. woman also te intruder and threw a knife at him. The incident left her shaken.

The police say they do not know the motive for the man’s entering the house, in Humbolt Street. Detective Sergeant Higgison said it was later found that the man had gained entry after unbolting a door lock. The 1 woman was confronted by the man 3yhen she emerged frofe>, a shower about 5.30 ami. A struggle resulted and the

man fled. Detective Sergeant Higgison said that the police sought help from the public in tracing the man, who is described as European and 177 cm (sft lOin) tall. . He wore a yellow parka, blue jeans, black gloves, and a white crash helmet He fled on a motor-cycle.