A MODEST schoolboy came to the rescue after a young girl was dragged into bushes by a hooded attacker.

And Deane School pupil John Marshall, 15, was only around to help fend off the attack because his alarm clock had not gone off.

The attack happened at about 9.10am yesterday morning on Junction Road, Deane as John was walking to school.

He said: "I was late because my alarm hadn't worked. There was hardly anyone around. Then I heard these footsteps behind me. The next thing I knew a girl was screaming and I could see the bushes moving at the edge of a garden."

John, who lives on Deane Church Lane, ran back towards the bushes and started shouting. Seconds later a man with his hood tied close round his face burst out of the bushes and ran off.

John found the girl, aged 14, shaken, but not physically hurt in the garden and walked her to school where the incident was then reported to police.

John's dad Graham said: "We are very proud of what he has done." And Deane School acting head Derek O'Brien said: "John displayed great courage, he was a real Good Samaritan. We always tell our pupils to look out for each other and this is what he did."

Det Ch Insp Frank Raggett said the police were continuing to investigate the incident today.

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