West Jesmond Metro station. Photo taken by LHoon, used under a Creative Commons licence

This post was updated at 2:15pm on December 15th 2015 to incorporate a comment from a Metro spokesman

A 20-year-old Northumbria University student, allegedly assaulted at West Jesmond Metro station, has spoken exclusively to JesmondLocal about the incident in the hope of finding witnesses.

The incident occurred at approximately 4:30pm on Saturday December 5th, when three young girls, who the victim believes were around 15-16 years old, allegedly assaulted the student on the stairs of West Jesmond station.

The victim, whose name JesmondLocal has chosen not to publish at her request, is a 20 year-old English Language student from Northumbria University.

Making her way back to her home in Jesmond from Haymarket, the victim encountered three girls on a busy Metro train. She described to JesmondLocal that two of them had bright purple hair, with the third having “mousey-brown” hair.

According to her the three girls were “drawing attention to themselves”, as she claimed they started “mouthing off and swearing”.  According to the victim, she told them that there was no need for any abuse, as there were a number of children on the train, and was met by a volley of obscenities hurled at her by the three girls.

Upon disembarking at West Jesmond Station, she was followed by the three girls. She told JesmondLocal how she could feel one of them near her face. CCTV footage at the platform attests to this, though it does not show the actual physical altercation.

Recounting the events, the victim said that the assailant “was probably an inch from a face”. At that point one of the girls began verbally threatening her, screaming “I’ll take you into a back alley and beat ya!”

At this point she described how the assault became violent. “She grabbed me by the hair and started ragging my head”, she recalled. The assault went on for around 40 seconds, until a tall young man wearing a blue coat broke up the fight.

Scared, she ran down to the underpass beneath the Metro station, where another one of the three assailants was waiting for her. After fending off the second assailant, she was aided by the same young man, after which she sprinted back to her Jesmond home.

Though she was freed from the attack, she still feared the assailants had seen her flee, and may have followed her home. As soon as she got back, she rang her boyfriend, and subsequently her friend’s boyfriend, a police officer, who told her to call the authorities straight away.

JesmondLocal was put in touch with the victim by her father, David, who has used social media to appeal for witnesses.

A Metro spokesman said: “We’re very sorry to hear about this incident and the distress this young woman went through.  Violent crime is very rare on Metro, and we invest heavily in staff and police patrols and technology like CCTV to keep it that way.”

A Northumbria Police spokesperson told JesmondLocal that at 4:45pm on Saturday afternoon officers were called to reports that a 20-year-old woman had been assaulted at West Jesmond Metro station.

“The victim was not seriously injured but she was left very distressed by the incident,” the spokesperson added.

“Enquiries are ongoing to identify the three girls and anyone who knows their identity should contact police. They are described as white, of slim build, with distinctive purple hair and aged in their mid-teens.”

The spokesperson continued: “Police are keen to speak to any witnesses to the incident, in particular the man who broke up the fight, as they may have information that could help the investigation.”

Anyone who can help with officers’ enquiries should contact police on 101, extension 69191, quoting reference 05/12/15.