The police commended her for her quick-thinking actions, because what Barber did was amazing considering the horrific situation she was in.

It’s also something that some self-defence experts actually recommend as part of their teaching to women. I’ve spoken to experts who teach different types of self-defence to find out what other tips they recommend for women who are attacked.

1) Stick your fingers in their eyes

Joe Ambrofino, who runs Krav Maga self-defence classes, says that if you’re being attacked at close distance, a useful technique is to stick your fingers in your attacker’s eyes.

He suggests using your thumbs and shoving them straight into the attacker’s eyeballs.

2) Bite their ear off

A self-defence instructor once told me that if you get the opportunity, you can bite down on your attacker’s ear. He then said you can “bite down as hard as possible and shake your head like a dog.”

As with Barber, it could result in you biting off a part of crucial evidence – and it’s guaranteed to cause maximum pain.

3) Scratch as much as you can

David Morrison, head instructor of Reading Women’s Self-Defencegroup, says that he doesn’t actually recommend biting off body parts because it could have an HIV risk.

Instead he says: “We normally advise scratching because you can get the skin under your fingernails, which can be used for DNA, and leave marks.”

Another option is to try and grab their hair. Pulling out chunks of it would also suffice for DNA purposes.

4) Disorientate the attacker

“You want to destroy their will to continue attacking you,” says Morrison. “You can do it just by making the person aware you’re not a vulnerable target.”

To do this he advises fighting back as much as possible. Even if you don’t think you’re physically stronger than your attacker, kicking, punching and scratching could be enough to put them off.

“That will destroy their will. They’ll probably just run away,” says Morrison.

He also says it helps to walk around as confidently as possible. If you look up, and seem alert, it’s less likely an attacker will go for you. But if your head is down, and you look like you won’t kick up a fuss, that makes you more of an attractive target for an attacker.

5) Jab them with a pen

If you’re carrying a phone, or keys, these can all be used as weapons. But Ambrofino also suggests carrying a pen in your hand if you’re nervous walking alone at night.

“Stick it in the side of their neck and face,” he says. “Also now it’s winter time and you’re wearing more clothes, you can use those. If you have a belt, you can swing it in an ‘eight’ figure and hit parts of the body.”

6) Get as much distance between them as you can

“You need to try and get distance from the attacker,” says Ambrofino. “Use your legs to kick him in the groin, in his knees. From medium distance you can use your hands.”

When you get closer, that’s when you can resort to biting/scratching/sticking fingers in the eyes .But the idea is to try and keep them as far away as possible.

But Morrison also warns against kicking them in the groin in case you miss as “it could make them more angry than anything.”

So only go for the groin if you know you’ll hit your target, or if you’ve had any training.”