Masseuse fought for her life after client attacked her with hammer

A MASSEUSE thought she was going to be killed when a client pulled a hammer out of his bag and struck her several times over the head.

- PHILIP DEWEY

She fought for her life as her attacker swung the weapon at her, bleeding heavily from her head and lapsing in and out of consciousness.

Connor Probert, 26, booked a massage at the Royal Orchid Thai Massage in Cardiff on February 17 last year, and arrived with a hammer concealed in his backpack.

The masseuse, Orawan Thomas, was at the salon on her own when she was viciously assaulted by her client without warning.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard the massage itself passed without incident, but when Ms Thomas turned her back the defendant grabbed her from behind and she felt a blow to her head.

She turned to look at Probert and saw he was holding a hammer in one hand, raised at shoulder level as if he were ready to strike again.

He continued to strike out at Ms Thomas and she thought she was going to be killed. Before she could do anything, Probert hit her to the head again as she struggled and attempted to scream.

Prosecutor Thomas Stanway said Ms Thomas managed to grab the hammer out of the defendant's grasp and hit him but he grabbed her wrist.

They struggled over the hammer as the victim continued to scream, but the defendant grabbed her by the neck as blood poured from her head.

Both of them slipped and fell, but Probert continued to grip Ms Thomas' throat and pressed her to the floor so she couldn't breathe. He then put his fingers on the centre of her throat, and Ms Thomas once more believed he was going to kill her.