Newbridge mum beaten in front of her daughter (From South Wales Argus)

Newbridge mum beaten in front of her daughter

7:30am Monday 17th September 2012 in News Exclusive By Ruth Mansfield

A WOMAN was left with shocking injuries after she was attacked by thugs in front of her disabled daughter.

Julie Pearce, 46, of Pen-y-Caeau, Newbridge, was driving back to her home on September 9 when she says she was flagged down by two men.

She said the men leaned in through the window and attacked her while her nine-year-old daughter Lucie sat in the back seat screaming.

Ms Pearce said the incident happened after she had told some children off earlier that day for picking on Lucie.

Ms Pearce says the incident has left her too terrified to return to her own home.

The mother of five, said: "When it was happening, I was just thinking ‘what are you doing’. It just all happened so fast.

"Everything went into a bit of a blur."

She added: "I’m just so scared to go back to my home now. If they can do that in broad daylight, what else can they do?"

She said she was driving to her home at about 5pm and had just turned into Glanshon Court, Newbridge, when the men flagged her down.

She pulled over and one of the men then started "ragging" her about and slapping her while the other took the keys from the engine and threw them into the car.

She said she was punched in the face and head three times during the incident.

The men then left the scene and Ms Pearce called the police. She also ended up spending the night in hospital while she was checked over and was left with a severely swollen black eye and bruising.

A Gwent police spokeswoman said a 37-year-old man from Blackwood and a 38-year-old man from Newbridge were arrested on suspicion of assault following the incident. They have since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

LUCIE, who was born at 24 weeks, weighing 1lb 6oz, spent most of the first year of her life in hospital and was given 24 hours to live just before her first birthday.

She was also put on Viagra just before for four years due to her having a condition known as necrotizing enterocolitis pulmonary hypertension, which causes the arteries to close up.

She suffers from a number of conditions including a rare incurable liver disease known as segmental caroli disease and curvature of the spine and is blind in one eye.

She is currently tube fed through her nose and occasionally has to use a wheelchair.