An actress who has worked on Happy Valley and Red Dwarf has revealed her terror after being ‘attacked’ while walking in London just before Christmas.
Tina Harris, who has also appeared in Shameless, Hollyoaks and Doctors, wrote a lengthy note about the incident, which was re-posted by her husband, Martin Gaisford, on his Facebook.
She explained how she wasn’t initially going to speak about her ordeal, but wanted to spread the word to ensure other women would be vigilant about their safety.
Tina wrote: “I was attacked in Highgate on Monday night – attempted kidnapping was term police used. I’m okay apart from being terrified of my own shadow right now.”
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She claimed two men in a car approached her while she was walking at around 7.35pm on Monday, 18 December.
“They first tried to get me on a very quiet road but I ran and then they caught up with me in a residential road with good street lighting,” she said.
Describing how she came face to face with one man, she wrote: “For a minute I thought ‘this is it’ but then a huge demonic voice came out of me – I screamed obscenities in his face which shocked him – he let go and I ran like I’ve never ran before – still screaming for all I was worth and yelling help.”
She added that, after screaming in her “deepest, most butch voice like a bull elephant”, the man “stopped chasing me, grabbed one of my bags which I’d thrown in the floor and suddenly I was in the middle of a ring of people who had come to help.”
After the terrifying incident, Tina says she spoke to police and CID, who took her coat for DNA testing.
Tina, who appeared as a detective constable in the second series of Happy Valley, advised: “So be careful, try to avoid walking long distances alone, keep an eye out and be bold.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told The Sun: “On Monday 18 December a 51-year-old female was walking along Swains Lane in Archway at around 19.35hrs.
“She was approached by a male who grabbed the victim and took her bag after it was dropped to the floor. The victim screamed and the male got into a car [model unknown] before it made off.
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“The male is described as around 30-35 years old, of stocky/overweight build, with grey and white stubble, short grey hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a dark padded quilted jacket and grey tracksuit bottoms.
“There is no description of the second male in the car. There have been no arrests. Enquiries are ongoing.”
ED! has contacted Tina’s rep for further comment.