A man killed his girlfriend's 10-month-old baby when he violently shook her and hit her on the head while in a rage, a court heard.

Louis Burdett, who was babysitting, allegedly carried out the attack within minutes of his partner telling him she was going to McDonald's with an ex-boyfriend.

Taliqa Fields sustained brain damage at her home in Drummond Road, off Abbey Lane, Leicester. She died in hospital the next day. Burdett (22), of Aikman Avenue, New Parks, Leicester, denies murdering Taliqa on July 2 last year.

Yvonne Coen QC, prosecuting, told Leicester Crown Court: "From the defendant's point of view he was looking after her children whilst she was in town, meeting an ex-boyfriend in McDonald's.

"He was, we suggest, quite likely in a rage. He took out his irritation or jealousy on Taliqa and inflicted a serious head injury in what, according to doctors' opinions, was a sustained assault. It was caused by his grabbing her and shaking her and causing her head to come into contact with something hard, by a direct blow or moving her head, causing it to make contact.

"She also had a fractured left collarbone. He must have known he'd caused serious harm."

Miss Coen said: "Burdett says he didn't harm her and didn't cause her any injury, but that she simply stopped breathing and collapsed."

The baby suffered swelling and bleeding on the brain and bruising to her head.

Miss Coen said: "The distribution of the injuries suggests she was gripped and shaken and came into contact with a hard surface."

She alleged the broken collarbone could have been caused by grabbing or swinging the child by her arm, and not by Burdett trying to revive her, as he claimed.

Taliqa's two-year-old brother was asleep upstairs at the time of the assault. He was described as boisterous and had been put on the "naughty step" several times by his mother for biting his baby sister, the court was told.

Miss Coen alleged Burdett lied to medical staff and police about what happened.

Taliqa's mother, Zoe Harman, began a relationship with Burdett about five weeks before the tragedy, in May last year.

She had known him since she was about 17. Burdett was virtually living at her home by the time of the alleged incident.

Miss Harman told the jury Burdett helped with the children, she never saw him lose his temper with them and had no concerns about leaving them in his care. He had agreed to look after the youngsters while she attended a course. Miss Harman's tutorial finished early at midday on July 1 and she arranged to meet a former childhood sweetheart she had bumped into on a bus.

She said she told Burdett about the meeting and he had not minded when she suggested the friend visit the house.

However, when she rang Burdett at 12.37pm, saying she was going to McDonald's with her old flame, Burdett allegedly appeared "grumpy".

Miss Harman believed he was more annoyed at missing out on a burger, than being jealous.

Because of his attitude they quickly had some food and both left for her home by bus.

By 12.51pm Burdett had dialled 999, saying his step-daughter "had gone limp and was struggling to breathe."

Miss Harman returned to see an ambulance stop outside her home and went with her daughter to Leicester Royal Infirmary, where she was put into intensive care.

Under cross-examination, she agreed with a defence suggestion by Frances Oldham QC that she described Burdett to police as being "a better father" to the children than their real dad.

The trial continues.

Leicester Tigers have received a huge boost ahead of Saturday's feud with bitter local rivals Northampton Saints.

Scrum-half Ben Youngs has been released from England's Elite Player squad and will play for his club at Welford Road.

Aussie open-side flanker Julian Salvi has recovered from a broken hand and is also likely to take his place in the starting line-up.

With Jordan Crane also passed fit, despite leaving the Gloucester game in the first half with injury, and Geordan Murphy and Louis Deacon in the mix having made their return from injury last weekend, Leicester at least have some comfort from the start of an autumn period which will severely test their resources.

Youngs was due to start at Gloucester last weekend but dropped out on the day of the game with a tight hamstring.

He joined up with the England squad on Sunday but, having played only three games this season after recovering from shoulder surgery in the summer, head coach Stuart Lancaster has agreed to let Youngs return to Leicester and play against Northampton, instead of resting him ahead of the Test with Fiji a week on Saturday.

"The discussions with Stuart about Ben were straightforward because he holds all the cards," said Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill (inset).

"If he wants him to play, he can play him. If he wants to keep him, he can keep him. It's as simple as that.

"Ben has not played a huge amount of rugby this season and they want him fighting fit.

"There are other options at scrum-half because Danny Care and Lee Dickson are both playing well. So it's not as easy as a fit Ben walking straight back into the team. Ben needs to play and that makes sense.

"Stuart runs it sensibly. He is not over-protective and he has other options. Thankfully that helps us on this occasion and gives us a bit of good news for a change.

"Ben will come back to us tomorrow, his hamstring is fine and he will play for us on Saturday.

"We will expect Ben to go back to England after that and be involved against Fiji.

"Anthony Allen will also come back this week but the other six of our lads will stay with England.

"Elsewhere, Julian Salvi is fit now. His hand is good. He had that scanned yesterday and he will be available for selection."

Cockerill confirmed that Martin Castrogiovanni and Steve Mafi will return from international duty with Italy and Tonga respectively tomorrow.

But Samoan prop Logovi'i Mulipola will face four to six weeks out of the game after picking up a knee injury at Kingsholm.

"We will have a good squad when Northampton arrive despite the England boys being away and other lads being on international duty until late in the week, which disrupts training," added Cockerill.

"The four points are important and the local derby element is important too. These games are always pretty interesting shall we say."

The countdown has begun. In a year's time, the grandest stage of rugby league will come to this country when England and Wales host the 2013 World Cup.

England's rugby league elite squad have their training base at Loughborough University and it will continue to host the squad throughout the competition.

They kick off their campaign in the opening fixture against the most successful country in rugby league World Cup history, the 2008 beaten finalists Australia, on October 26 next year at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

England prop Eorl Crabtree, nephew of legendary wrestler Shirley 'Big Daddy' Crabtree, said having the World Cup in this country is a great opportunity for the team.

"Playing it over here will be a fantastic experience, especially with our home fans behind us," he said.

"It is also an opportunity to raise the profile of the sport in this country.

"It doesn't really get its just rewards for such a great sport. Rugby league is a game that can, and should, get bigger.

"The sport doesn't seem to be played as widely in schools as we would like it to be. We just want to try to raise the awareness of the sport and to get people playing it.

"Even if you are a football fan, just give it a try and people will appreciate what we do.

"It's about building for the future of our sport – we want people to rock up to games and enjoy themselves. It's about a legacy of getting people involved in rugby league."

Crabtree, who has played more than 250 games for Huddersfield Giants in the Super League, could also play a World Cup fixture on his home ground when England face Ireland at the John Smith's Stadium.

"I am really looking forward to playing on home soil and in my own stadium, it's only 15 minutes away from my house," he said.

He also paid tribute to the facilities at Loughborough University.

"We trained there throughout the season with the elite squad, it's an incredible set-up and it's a great place to be," he said.

Crabtree suffered an injury setback at the end of the season but said he is just focused on getting fit and getting picked for the squad.

"The injuries aren't too bad, I had a couple of operations on my right shoulder, which is a three-month injury, and then had my elbow drained.

"I definitely should be fit for next year but you never know what could happen next season.

"I just want to put in some decent performances and get picked for England."

Despite having professional wrestling in his blood with his late uncle Shirley being a legend of the British professional wrestling scene, and two of his other nephews becoming wrestlers themselves, Crabtree said it was never going to be a career choice for him.

"It's part of my heritage and I am proud of it, but it wasn't something that I ever wanted to get into because it was always rugby for me," he said.

"So you won't be seeing me in a leotard any time soon."

A man is to appear in court after being charged with causing death by careless driving.
It follows a collision on the northbound A42 at Stretton en le Field, near Measham, north west Leicestershire. on Saturday, July 7.
David Cumpsty, 66, of Wollescote, Stourbridge, West Midlands died at the scene.
A 49-year-old man is due to appear at Hinckley Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, November 20.

Fashion chain Next has reported stronger sales in the past few weeks as the high street shows signs of a pick up.

The Enderby-based group today said sales between August and October were up 2.7 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Bosses said the figure was boosted by buoyant trade in late September and early October, making up for a quiet start to August.

It comes after a survey this week by business group CBI found retail sales for October were better than expected.

Sales at the Next's 536 stores rose by 1.1 per cent over the quarter, while its Next Directory mail order/internet arm saw sales rise by 5.6 per cent in the same period.

The company, which employs 3,500 people in Leicestershire, said it expected sales to rise by around 3.8 per cent over the next three months, and by between 3 per cent and 4.5 per cent for the full year.

The group is on track for a fourth consecutive year of record profits after predicting a surplus of £590 million to £620 million for the 12 months to January 31, 2013.

Ryanair today said an expansion of services at East Midlands Airport would create or sustain 460 jobs.

The low-cost airline said it was launching two new destinations - Marseille and Menorca - and increasing capacity on 17 other routes from the Castle Donington hub next summer.

The Dublin-based carrier said the expansion will see an extra aircraft based at East Midlands.

The University of Leicester will host the UK Open 2012 Rubik's Cube-solving championship this weekend.
Around 100 contestants from nine countries will compete for the fastest time taken to complete the iconic 3-D puzzle.
The two-day championship gets underway on Saturday (Nov 3) and participants, including potential world record setters, will compete in a number of different events, including one-handed speedcubing and the blindfolded speedcubing event.
Entrants have a set amount of time to study a 'scrambled' cube and must use their mathematical and cognitive skills, as well as their dexterity in order to get a winning time – which is frequently under ten seconds.
The current world record for a 3x3x3 cube is 5.66 seconds set by 16-year-old Australian speedcubing champion Feliks Zemdegs.
The event has been co-organised by second year maths student Laurence Livsey, who also set up the University of Leicester's first Speedcubing Society this year.
Laurence, 19, said he was looking forward to the event.
He added: "I first learned to solve a cube about four years ago after I got one for Christmas, but it was in January this year that I began learning more advanced methods and started competitively speedcubing. I started getting faster and faster, before you know it you can average around 20 seconds."

Commuters can be seen tucking into metre-long sausages and what seems like the world's largest boiled egg in a breakfast conjured up by TV chef Heston Blumenthal.

In the first episode of Heston's Fantastical Food, due to be shown on Channel 4 next week, the chef cooks up a bizarre breakfast to feed commuters on the Great Central Railway.

About 20 people, who usually take the East Midlands Trains service from Loughborough to Leicester each day, were offered a ride on a steam train along the heritage railway instead.

During filming, Heston served up the world's largest boiled egg, metre-long sausages, fried bread the size of carpet tiles and jumbo baked beans.

Simon Cotton, a senior manager at PKF accountants in Leicester city centre, was among the commuters.

He said: "It was all very Willy Wonka and nothing Heston did was ever quite what it seemed – that was the whole game. We had tomatoes that were actually made of sausage, tomato that looked like bacon and a giant egg made of all sorts of things.

"Instead of toast soldiers to dip in, we had cake and they had people dressed as real soldiers marching through the carriageway. It was very different.

"The first thing Heston served us was a newspaper, which was completely edible and had lots of different flavours, including a pull-out advert that was made of marzipan."

Lesley Dexter, who works at the Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, broke the huge boiled egg using a giant spoon.

She said: "Inside it looked like egg but it was yoghurt and mango and tasted delicious.

"My favourite food was the giant Shreddies, which were stuffed with crunchy nut caramel, fruit and popping candy which crackled when you poured the milk on."

Heston's Fantastical Food will be shown on Channel 4 at 9pm on Tuesday.

Success and Leicester Ladies hockey club go hand in hand. But even by their own high standards, 2012 has been a vintage year. The club is among the prime candidates for the Team of the Year trophy in the Mercury Sports Awards after lifting the National Hockey League championship and the National Indoor title.

Their successes came in far from straightforward circumstances, too. They had to play for much of the season without a number of their leading players as Crista Cullen, Hannah Macleod, Anne Panter and Chloe Rogers all had spells preparing to represent Great Britain at the Olympics, where they were ultimately to be rewarded with bronze medals.

The Leicester club, who are sponsored by Pukka Pies, breezed into the indoor final on the back of a crushing 7-3 semi-final victory over Sutton Coldfield at Loughborough.

The final was to prove a very different story as Lauren Turner scored the only goal of the game at Wembley Arena to beat Reading.

"It just wasn't happening," said club president Sarah Treanor. "We had opportunity after opportunity. The goalkeepers were having good games and it wasn't until three-quarters of the way through the match that we got our goal.

"As you can imagine, we were very pleased after all the planning, work and effort we had put in before the competition."

Reading loomed again in a league championship final which was to produce the most dramatic of finishes.

The Berkshire outfit had finished the season at the top of the table, with Leicester in second place.

However, the city team showed how determined they were to complete an outstanding double when they hammered Canterbury 4-1 in their play-off semi-final.

As anticipated there was little to choose between the finalists and they were locked at 1-1 after extra-time.

The first round of penalty shuttles failed to produce a winner, each team scoring twice from three attempts, and that set up sudden-death.

Rogers stepped up and hammered the ball into the roof of the net, sparking more Leicester celebrations.

"Things are never easy,"said Sarah. "It has to be really nerve-racking and traumatic!

"We knew at the start of the season that we would have up to eight players unavailable for certain games. So to come out of it with two national titles is, for me, the sweetest feeling."

To nominate an athlete or team, complete the form below. Nominations close on December 4.

A 79-year-old widower says he has lost all trust in people since two thieves conned their way into his home, claiming to be his friends.

The man, who has lived alone since his wife died four years ago, lost £1,500 to the pair, who called at his Leicester home last week and claimed to have known him years ago.

The thieves – a woman and a man – pushed their way into the house in Uppingham Road, Spinney Hills, and began searching the downstairs rooms.

The man, who has asked to remain anonymous, said the woman then held his arm while her accomplice searched the upstairs bedrooms – where he found £1,500 in cash.

As the thieves prepared to leave, the woman hugged the man and pulled down his trousers, apparently to stop him following them out.

He said: "It's a terrible thing to say, but I have lost my confidence and all my trust in people.

"These people came to my door and when I opened it they said they had known me in the past.

"I was sure I'd never seen them before but they pushed their way inside and began searching.

"They didn't hit me but the woman held my arm to make sure I stayed in one place while the man was searching the bedrooms upstairs.

"They were both very calm and professional. I would be astonished if they hadn't done this before and I am sure they will do it again."

"I'll never let this happen to me again. I've got a good chain on my front door now and I will not allow any strangers into my home."

The couple called at the man's home at 11am on Sunday, October 21.

Police have appealed for help tracing the pair.

Detective Constable Louise Osborne said: "It's terrible to think that these two people targeted this man, claiming they knew him, and then stole his money.

"I hope anyone who has information about these two people will call us and help us with our inquiries.

"You may have also been approached by these people. Perhaps you spoke to them or maybe you saw them and recognise them?

"If so, please call us, no matter how insignificant the information you have seems."

The man is white, aged 20 to 30, about 5ft 3in. He has short, dark hair and spoke with an Eastern European accent.

The woman is white, in her 20s and of medium to large build. She has dark brown hair, which the victim told police may have been long and tied back. She also spoke with an Eastern European accent.

Contact Det Con Osborne on 101.

Vandals have caused thousands of pounds damage after covering a charity's ambulance in graffiti.

They broke into a secure compound in Yeoman Street, in the city centre, before spraying the Age UK vehicle on Tuesday night.

The vehicle, which ferries people to Clarence House in the city every day, was so badly covered in graffiti that it could not be used.

Silver paint blotted out nearly all the windows and black tags were also painted on the vehicle.

Age UK Leicester Shire and Rutland chief executive Tony Donovan said the damage was discovered at around 8am yesterday when staff arrived to take the ambulance on its round.

He said: "We will prosecute whoever has done this. It will have a very bad impact on the very vulnerable clients who use the ambulance every day.

"They see it is a lifeline to help them live independent lives. We had to take it off the road and bring in another vehicle from our fleet to take its place.

"We will also have to hire-in a replacement ambulance long-term while the repair work is carried out."

He said during disturbances in Leicester in the summer of 2011, one of its £45,000 mini-buses was badly damaged and clients at the time considered it to be an attack on them.

He said: "This graffiti attack will have a similar affect on those who use the ambulance."

He said the vehicle, which can carry 15 people, is used each day to bring people into the Clarence House day centre for a meal and to take part in activities designed to keep them motivated.

It picks them up from their homes in the morning and delivers them back again at the end of the day.

He added: "If it were not for this link, the people, who are very frail, would likely have to go into communal residential accommodation."

He said the cost to repair the damage was going to be thousands of pounds which would be paid out of funds that should be used to provide services.

He said: "The paint will have to be professionally removed and the vehicle resprayed to remove the black tags. We would urge anyone who saw what happened to contact the police."

A police spokeswoman said the incident in Yeoman Street was reported to them yesterday morning and officers were investigating what happened.

People who saw anything suspicious in the area are asked to contact the police on 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

A number of festivals and events are set to have their council funding cut or removed completely.

Leicester's Caribbean Carnival, the Navratri and Dashera celebrations and Humberstone Park Bonfire could be affected as the city council looks to cut the amount it spends on celebrations from £366,500 to £308,500 next year.

The amount will be reduced to £288,500 in 2014.

The city council yesterday revealed the results of its festivals and events funding review following a 12-week consultation.

Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby will now have the final decision on whether to approve the cuts.

Councillors were due to discuss the changes last night.

The Navratri celebration organised by Leicester Hindu Festivals Council at De Montfort Hall, will see its council grant cut by half, from £20,000 to £10,000.

About 2,000 people had signed a petition against the potential cut, arguing it would make it impossible to run the event.

Festival council president Maganbhai Patel said he had been anticipating the 50 per cent cut.

He said: "I do not know if we will be able to continue.

"Hindus will be very upset about this because it looks like the city council does not support a very large section of the Leicester community."

The Caribbean Carnival currently gets £100,000 from the council towards its £200,000 costs.

The grant will fall to £80,000 next year and £60,000 the year after.

The Dashera event at Cossington recreation ground, in Belgrave, will lose its entire £6,000. Humberstone Bonfire will also lose all of its £16,000 funding.

Sir Peter said he valued all the city's celebrations but said: "It is a fact my assistant mayors and I sometimes have to make hard decisions. We wont be afraid of doing that.

"There are some celebrations that would happen with or without the council's assistance.

"Navratri, for example, is celebrated at smaller events and the necessity for input from the council is less than it was.

"The Caribbean Carnival will receive support more comparable with that given to similar events in other cities."

For some events, however, the review promises good news.

The council is proposing its grant to Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival is increased from £18,500 to £23,500 next year.

Castle Park festival will be re-branded and widened out as part of a city centre August bank holiday festival. No budget has been decided for this.

Sir Peter said: "The comedy festival brings a return to the city of several million pounds so we are increasing our support of that.

"We also recognise the importance of Diwali and are keeping our £80,000 contribution to that.

"In a process like this there will be winners and losers.

"I can say the amount of expenditure on festivals overall will not be significantly different in coming years."

Spark Children's Arts Festival, Leicester International Music Festival, Riverside Festival, Abbey Park bonfire and firework display, the Christmas lights switch-on, Black History Month, St George's Day celebrations, Leicester Belgrave Mela and the Diwali switch-on and Diwali Day will all maintain their funding.

Alan Birchenall has praised Leicester City's fans for the backing they continue to give Nigel Pearson's side.

More than 2,000 supporters will make the trip to Watford on Saturday with the club selling out their Vicarage Road allocation for the Championship clash.

City took a following of 4,000 to St Andrews for the recent clash with Birmingham City, and backed that up with a season's best 26,000 which saw the 1-0 victory at home against Brighton and Hove Albion a week ago.

Birchenall said that kind of support was widely appreciated by the players – home and away.

"You can always count on the Leicester City fans to get behind their team at home and away, they've been fantastic so far this season," said the club ambassador.

"When you've got a confident team in good form and a vocal, passionate following on the terraces it can be a formidable combination.

"When the players run out at Watford on Saturday it will give them a massive spring in their step."

City travel south looking to return to winning ways after losing 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, a defeat which saw them slip to second place in the table behind Cardiff City.

City's Championship fixture with Middlesbrough at the King Power Stadium in January has been moved for live television coverage.

Originally scheduled for Saturday, January 19, it will now take place a day earlier, with a 7.45pm kick-off against Tony Mowbray's side.

At present, both teams are in the top three.

A guest appearance by Bollywood royalty at Leicester's annual Diwali lights switch-on has been cancelled due to health and safety fears.

Action hero Dharmendra Singh Deol is filming his latest Blockbuster – Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 (Mad Madder Maddest 2) – in the city and had been due to make a "surprise" appearance at Sunday's event.

He had agreed to turn on the 6,500 lights decorating Belgrave's Golden Mile and address his adoring public from the stage to mark the start of Leicester's Diwali celebrations.

But organisers have pulled the plug on the 76-year-old star's cameo after concerns were raised over policing and security.

The appearance had been agreed after an approach to the Indian superstar by Councillor Piara Singh Clair, assistant city mayor and chair of the city council's Diwali working party.

"I spoke to his production director last week," said Coun Singh Clair. "He came back to me almost immediately to say Dharmendra had agreed and would be delighted to be our special guest."

However, the proposal was given short shrift when put to the festival's joint organising group, comprising of the city council, police and festival committee, on Friday.

In a statement issued by the city council, a spokesman said: "The group raised concerns about crowd management issues due to the presence of a celebrity of Mr Deol's stature, and also about the short notice. A joint decision was taken not to go ahead with the proposal."

Maganbhai Patel, president of the Leicester Hindu Festival Council, said: "If we'd known about this two months ago maybe something could have been worked, but we were not informed about it until the very last minute.

"When we put it to police they immediately said there could be a problem with health and safety.

"We didn't want to say no but the security and policing had already been arranged for up to 40,000 people.

"The fear was, if Dharmendra was to appear, then the numbers could be much higher and if, for example, the crowd surged towards the stage, there would be chaos."

Coun Singh Clair said: "It would have been wonderful for him to have been able to join us on Sunday. It was a great opportunity for one of India's most famous stars to take part in our Diwali celebrations.

"But, while I am obviously disappointed, and I'm told Dharmendra is too, I fully understand the decision – at the end of the day, health and safety has to be paramount."

The honour of switching on the lights at 7pm will now revert back to Jashvant Chauhan, Leicester Hindu Festival Council's general secretary.

Celebrations will take place from 6pm until 9pm, with local performers leading a stage programme of classical Asian and Bollywood dance and music followed by a firework and laser display in nearby Cossington Street Recreation Ground at 8pm.

For details, visit: www.leicester.gov.uk/diwali

Leicester City defender Sean St Ledger faces another couple of weeks on the sidelines.

The Republic of Ireland international has not played since picking up a hamstring injury against Bristol City at the start of last month.

Unlucky St Ledger has missed the last three games and has featured in just six of City's first 13 Championship fixtures this term after a pre-season injury ruled him out at the start of the campaign.

"Recovery isn't going too badly, I reckon I'll probably be another couple of weeks," said St Ledger.

"It's just been a bit of nightmare really because of the timing of it, but that's football – injury is part-and-parcel of it.

"It's frustrating more than anything because I got an injury in pre-season. Then you just hope that you've put the injury troubles behind you.

"It was just bad timing because we were doing so well as a team.

"I was forming a good partnership with Wes (Morgan) and, the more you play together, the more confidence the manager has in you as a pair and as individuals."

In St Ledger's absence, Zak Whitbread, who signed in the summer after being released by Norwich, has taken the place of the injured Irishman.

Despite having his own history of injury problems, 28-year-old Whitbread has performed well.

St Ledger said he would never expect to get the shirt back straight away.

"If I was playing in the team, and the team was doing well, then I wouldn't expect to be left out," he said.

"Suspensions and injuries happen week in, week out, and sometimes you just have to wait for your chance, work hard in training and just let the manager make his decision."

City boss Nigel Pearson has admitted that he will not try to rush St Ledger back into action.

"He has responded very well to treatment," said Pearson. "The bottom line with any injury is that it will take as long as it takes. We are not in a position where we are going to rush him.

"It is the same criteria applied to him and everyone else. When players are back, I want them to stay back.

"I am not prepared to rush players back one game early if it is going to put in jeopardy their availability during a sustained period.

"He is a very positive character in terms of how he deals with the disappointment.

"He has had one or two setbacks here, but he always responds in a positive way and that can only help him."

A woman has described her horrifying ordeal at the hands of thugs who punched her repeatedly before stealing toiletries.

The 26-year-old's ordeal began moments after she got into her car in Cobden Street, near Loughborough town centre, at 5.45pm on Tuesday. One of her attackers opened the driver's door, grabbed the victim and started punching her.

His accomplice opened the front passenger door and also began hitting her. The woman managed to sound her car horn with her knee as an alarm.

Her attackers grabbed a carrier bag containing toiletries, two T-shirts and a phone charger before running away.

The victim, who did not want to be named, said: "I feel really scared at this moment.

"I haven't been able to sleep because I keep having visions of what these men did to me.

"One was wearing gloves when he put his hands over my face and I can still remember the musty smell of them.

"It seemed to go on forever. They just kept hitting me.

"I'm not sure why they did this to me. They took a carrier bag which contained nothing of any real value.

"Maybe they thought there was a laptop in there, I really don't know.

"I managed to get my knee on the car horn and that made a noise. One of them tried to push my leg back down but I knew that if I could sound the horn it might scare them away.

"One of them grabbed the bag and hit me maybe four or five times in the face before they ran away. It was all so violent."

Detective Constable Paul Bolstridge, of Loughborough CID, appealed for witnesses.

"This lady was able to sound the horn of her car, which may have drawn attention to the incident," he said.

"She is shaken by what has happened, although, thankfully, not badly hurt.

"We would appeal to anyone who was in the area of Pinfold Gate, School Street or Cobden Street to contact us if they saw two men matching the description of the assailants before, during or after the assault.

"They ran off along Cobden Street and we believe they may have run along Russell Street."

One of the men is black, 5ft 6in, skinny and has short black hair. He was wearing a black leather jacket.

The other is thought to be Eastern European, and is 5ft 6in and skinny. He was wearing a hooded top and a baseball cap.

Contact Det Con Bolstridge by calling 101.