A sex attacker has been jailed after he preyed on a kickboxer who throttled him with her legs until he passed out.
Mark Willis, 40, hid behind a garden bush before pouncing on the 25-year-old woman as she walked alone with her headphones in just after 2am.
He punched her in the face several times – knocking her over a garden wall – before he clambered on top of her and began to grope her as he attempted to remove her clothes.
But the martial arts expert responded by telling Willis to “go f**k himself” before grabbing his arm and pinning him in a headlock between her legs.
She held him there until he “went limp” and she was able to scramble out of the bushes and knock on the door of a nearby house in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Judge William Hart today praised the victim’s bravery as he sentenced Willis to four-and-a-half years in prison, with an additional four years on licence.
During the hearing at Bristol Crown Court, he told Willis: “I am sure you were wandering around Cheltenham after 2am looking for a young female upon whom you could pray.
“You saw the victim approaching and noticed she had headphones in. You ducked behind a hedge, into a garden.
“Unbeknown to you, she had martial arts training and she was able to use that to great affect.
“The reality is, this kind of incident is every woman’s nightmare.”
Willis, a warehouse worker from Churchdown, Gloucestershire, previously pleaded guilty to a charge of causing actual bodily harm following the incident on August 31 last year.