Scottish driver hospitalised by man lying in the road she had stopped to help

A woman needed hospital treatment after she was assaulted by a man she stopped to help.

The 39-year-old was driving her black Ford Kuga car on the A70 near the village of Rigside in South Lanarkshire when she saw the man lying in the road at around 6.40pm on Sunday.

She got out of the car to help, thinking he may be injured or unwell, but he then assaulted her before running off.

The woman managed to summon help and was taken to Wishaw General Hospital, where she was treated for bruising and cuts to her head and body.

The 39-year-old was driving her black Ford Kuga car on the A70 near the village of Rigside in South Lanarkshire when she saw the man lying in the road at around 6.40pm on Sunday.

Police are appealing for information about the man who is described as around 5ft 7ins and with a local accent. He was wearing a dark hooded top, skip cap and dark face mask.

He smelled of alcohol and officers believe he may have been in the area for some time.

Detective Inspector Kirsty Moore said: “This was a despicable incident, leaving a woman injured and extremely traumatised when she had only stopped to help someone she believed to be injured or unwell.

“It is vital that we trace this man and I ask anyone who was in the vicinity of Shield Burn on the A70 on Sunday evening, and may have seen a man of this description, to get in touch immediately.

“I also urge anyone who was driving in the area to check their dash cam footage as they may have captured him on camera at some point in the evening.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call 101 quoting incident number 2757.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.