Thug knocks out mum and breaks her jaw with one punch before stealing her kebab

A violent thug knocked out a defenceless woman and broke her jaw with one punch before stealing her kebab.

Nikita Jackson was left with a broken jaw, four broken teeth and blood pouring down her face when she was punched in the face by a random attacker.

The 48-year-old mum said the thug 'came out of nowhere' as she was walking home from a night out in Derby at about 3am on August 17.

Although her kebab was stolen, the thug left behind her phone and purse in the incident, Derbyshire Live reports.

A group of students spotted her, helped her and rushed rushed to find the police.

Following the attack, Ms Jackson went under the knife for seven hours and spent several days in hospital.

A severed nerve has also her left with a lack of feeling in her jaw which doctors say may never come back.

She said: "I suffer quite badly with panic attacks anyway but this has taken me to another level.

"I don't feel like it was targeted at me but I still don't feel safe. I haven't got an inkling of who it could be."

Ms Jackson was out with friends, who wanted to continue the night at a casino, when she decided to get some food and make her way home.

She said: "I got myself something to eat when this man came from nowhere.

"He leant back and then he just punched me full-blown in the face. It knocked me out before I even hit the floor. Before I knew it I was covered in blood.

"He broke my jaw. It knocked four teeth out - one of them went into my cheek. I've had to have three metal plates in my jaw."

Bizarrely the only thing that was missing when Ms Jackson came round was her kebab.

Ms Jackson said she could not remember any details about the attacker because her memory was affected by her injuries.

At the time, she told police there may have been two thugs.

The students who helped her filled her in on as many details as they could.

In the days since the incident Ms Jackson has mostly been confined to her home.

She also missed out on her parents' golden wedding anniversary because she was too unwell.

She said: "It's a matter of getting on with it, really.

"All the family was at the anniversary except me, so that was upsetting."

A spokeswoman for Derbyshire police confirmed that members of the public flagged down patrolling officers to help Ms Jackson, who is unemployed due to ill health, after the attack.

She said: “Officers provided first aid at the scene and the victim later sought medical help. We have spoken to her about the assault and taken steps to identify the men responsible."