A MAN punched a young mother in the head during an unprovoked attack outside a doctors' surgery in Croydon.
Cyril Atula, 20, attacked the woman as she left St James Medical Centre, in St James's Road, with her baby and three-year-old son at 4pm on August 8 last year.
Atula, of Tressillian Cresent, Lewisham, initially denied assault but changed his plea to guilty before his trial began at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
Clare Carey, prosecuting, told the court that the victim, who was 24-years-old at the time, was on the phone to her mother discussing her son's medical condition when Atula confronted her.
"He said: 'What did you say?' She replied that she was talking to her mum at which point he launched an unprovoked attack and punched her in the neck.
"She was scared for herself and her children. He was rambling and swearing. He hit her in a swinging action, like he was doing the front crawl. She screamed and so did her children."
The woman, thinking she was being robbed, tried to give Atula her phone but he continued to "slap" her.
He then ran away and she was able to flag down a passing police car. Officers took a witness on a drive to see if she could spot the attacker and, when she did, Atula fled.
The police helicopter was called and Atula was found hiding in a shed in a nearby garden. He has previously pleaded guilty to causing damage to a fence.
Vinesh Boodhoo, defending, said Atula suffered from severe depression and anxiety. He deserved credit for pleading guilty, he added.
The hearing was adjourned until Thursday at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court, in north London, so a probation report can be compiled before Atula is sentenced alongside another matter, in which he admitted possession of a knife and theft of a bicycle.
