A MUM who was left scarred after she was slashed across the face in an unprovoked doorstep attack is calling for the culprit to be brought to justice.

Mother-of-two Kelly Bond, 31, was at home with her two girls, in Shrub End, Colchester, when she ventured outside the back door to take her rubbish out.

She was left “frozen to the spot” when she came face-toface with a hooded figure on her doorstep.

“I could tell from the features it was a girl, dressed all in black, wearing sunglasses, a pink hat and a scarf covering her face,” she said.

“I froze for what felt like minutes, but it must have been seconds.

“Her arm came up to my face and I shut the door on her, locked it and ran upstairs to get my kids.

“I shut us into a bedroom and called the police.”

Kelly said her children were horrified by the sight of her face, which was covered in blood.

“It didn’t see a weapon, but it felt like a sharp object, like a fine cut,” she said.

“Police reckon it must have been an object cutting into my face.

“I was hysterical and the amount of blood made it seem worse, I thought I had been stabbed.”

After the attack, which was carried out about 6.15pm on January 15, police arrived at her home and Kelly says they stayed with her for three hours.

But after three weeks, she says they are no closer to finding the person responsible.

Kelly suspects the nature of the attack suggests the culprit knew her.

She said she has been left suffering with severe anxiety issues as a result of the attack and a “nine-year harassment campaign” carried out against her.

“I have had panic attacks and have lost my job as a mental health support worker due to long-term harassment I have suffered over social media and in person,” she said.

“I’ve been on medication.

“I feel like it hasn’t been taken seriously, and that people don’t understand the effects of harassment.”

Kelly, who looks after her two girls, aged eight and five, said she had suffered sleepless nights since the attack.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "We were called to reports of an assault in Owen Ward Close, Colchester, shortly after 6.15pm on Friday, January 15.

"The victim reported she had heard a noise in her back garden and had gone out to check.

"While she was outside, she was struck with a weapon causing injuries to her face.

"Thankfully the injuries were not serious.

"The suspect, who the victim believes to be a woman, was wearing a baby pink baseball cap, sunglasses and gloves.

"We attended but no one matching the description of the suspect could be found.

"No arrests have been made and our enquiries are ongoing."

Anyone with information should call 101, quoting incident 933 of January 15.