A YOUNG woman has been the victim of a vicious, unprovoked attack by a man as she walked home in Dunfermline.

The 22-year-old woman sustained serious facial injuries in the assault by a male in his mid-20s, described as being of Asian appearance, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

She lost three teeth in the incident and had to be taken to Queen Margaret Hospital after being followed then struck.

It is believed the woman was knocked to the ground and kicked in the face as she walked home from the city centre. She was passing through the Transy Grove area at around 2.40am after a night out with friends.

The random and violent nature of the attack will obviously cause great concern among other females who have to get about the area on their own.

The victim described her attacker as having short dark hair, with facial stubble and was dressed in dark clothing. Detective Constable Christopher Carson said, “The woman involved has suffered a traumatic experience and is obviously very shaken by this incident.

“We are keen to trace anyone with any information which may help us in our enquiries and I would ask that anyone with such information contacts Dunfermline police station by calling 0845 600 5702 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where all calls are treated anonymously.” A police spokesman said there was no evidence of the offence being sexually motivated and the victim was not robbed.

However, a local resident, who along with his wife went to the young woman’s assistance, said, “We believe the attack could have been sexually motivated as he had followed her and we believe that he was trying to incapacitate her first then drag her into a garden or nearby woods. Luckily she yelled and chased him off.

“The concern is that this guy may lie low for a while then do the same again. Since this happened we’ve heard another woman in the area who says she had been followed home by a man of the same description previously. She got into her house safely but she says he tried the door behind her.

“After it happened I went to see if I could see the attacker in the surrounding streets.

“By then there were quite a few people in the streets coming from the nightclubs but there was no sign of anyone of his description.” The couple took the victim into their home after hearing her shouts in the street and contacted her family who live nearby. The young woman’s father went to their house to comfort his daughter.

The resident went out into the street and found the dislodged front teeth which were taken to the hospital with the victim but nothing could be done.

An item of jewellery, thought to have been dropped by the attacker, was recovered from the scene and forensic tests are being carried out on it.