A young mum has described the harrowing moment a predatory nurse sexually assaulted her as she held her baby daughter.

The brave 23-year-old was preyed upon by community mental health worker Vijay Bundhun, who subjected her to two sickening attacks early last year.

Bundhun, 42, of Tonford Lane, Thanington, was jailed for life on Thursday after being convicted of four counts of rape, eight of sexual assault and one of assault by penetration against six victims.

Now one of the women he targeted has chosen to speak out in the hope of encouraging other victims of sexual assault to come forward.

Speaking anonymously, she told how her ordeal started in February last year when married father Bundhun was sent to her home to carry out a medical assessment.

After he arrived, his victim, who was suffering from an anxiety disorder at the time, answered a number of questions about her mental health before Bundhun told her he wanted to massage her.

She said: “He looked at me and went, ‘you can tell how tense someone is by their back’.

“He then told me he was going to crack my back.

“I thought he was being funny and said ‘no’, but he was persistent - I felt like I had no choice but to do what he said.

“He stood behind me and lifted me into the air, he was pushing his privates into my back.”

Later that evening, she began receiving text messages from the nurse, asking to see her the next day for another medical check.

"The reason people are in mental health services is because they have been vulnerable at some point in their lives" - Victim

When he visited her the following day, the Sittingbourne Memorial Hospital-based nurse launched into a sickening assault after telling her to lie on the floor so he could “massage” her.

She said: “I got onto the floor on my tummy and he suddenly got on top of me and was massaging me.

“He was holding my hands down by my head and he was trying to pull my trousers down but I kept saying ‘no’.

“Then he got really close to my ear and said ‘turn over’. I was terrified.

“My daughter started crying in the other room and I thought ‘thank God’. He let me go and get her and I sat her on my lap.

“He didn’t want to look at her - he made her turn around to face away from him and gave her his watch to play with and distract her.

“Then he said ‘have you ever had a tongue massage before?’.

Bundhun, who worked at Sittingbourne Memorial Hospital, then launched a sustained sexual assault, with the woman’s ordeal only coming to an end when she told him a friend would arrive at her home shortly.

The incident was reported to police later that evening and Bundhun was arrested.

Speaking after sentencing, the victim says she has suffered from nightmares and panic attacks since the assault.

She is now calling on the Kent and Medway Primary Care Trust to tighten its employment rules, including not allowing male nurses to carry out home visits on their own.

She said: “I’m not saying all males are perpetrators, but the reason people are in mental health services is because they have been vulnerable at some point in their lives.”

A spokesman for the trust said: “We welcome again the court’s recent verdict and remain appalled by the actions of this individual, who had been suspended and whose employment we subsequently ceased.

“We also sincerely apologise again for the terrible and distressing impact on those affected, and we will continue to work very closely with them to offer support.

“Following the conclusion of court proceedings we are now able to carry out a review of our processes and, because of the seriousness of this, we have commissioned an external investigator to identify if any changes need to be made.

“It would be quite wrong to pre-empt that, but we can assure patients that such incidents are very rare indeed, and if anyone has any concerns they can contact us on our dedicated helpline – 01622 724139.”