A YOUNG mum says she is scared to go out alone after being sexually assaulted in her own home.

Chelsea Charlton was at home in Kirby Cross when the attack took place on September 19 last year.

Two men forced their way in and sexually assaulted her.

Jonathan Oxley, of Beverley Drive, Kirby Cross, and Ali Jordan Clark had both denied sexual assault but were convicted after a trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

Oxley, 24, was jailed for two years and two months at Southend Crown Court.

Clark, 23, was given the same sentence, suspended for two years, and given a curfew.

Both men were put on the sex offenders' register for ten years.

They were also given restraining orders preventing them from contacting their victim for five years.

Chelsea, 24, bravely gave up her legal right to anonymity to describe her ordeal.

Oxley was her next-door neighbour at the time of the attack and was having a barbecue with friends.

She knew him and they had been at school together.

He had more than 20 previous convictions and in 2012 was given a suspended 12-month youth custody sentence for an attack on a man outside the Ship pub in Kirby-le-Soken on Christmas Eve 2010.

Victim Peter Irwin was left unconscious for three days after being punched so hard he fell over and cracked his head on the pavement.

Oxley had admitted causing grievous bodily harm and assault.

Chelsea said her attackers had banged on her door and pushed her into the bedroom, exposing themselves and sexually assaulting her.

She tried to pretend her five-year-old daughter was at home in a bid to make them stop.

"I was trying to push them away and kept saying my boyfriend was going to come back," said Chelsea.

"I was hoping they would hear me next door."

After the attack, Chelsea said: "I was really upset. I went to my boyfriend and he rang the police.

"Then I rang my mum."

Chelsea said she had to give up her rented bungalow to avoid seeing Oxley while the police investigation got underway.

She said being cross-examined during the court case was "horrible" and is still suffering from her ordeal.

"I still don't go out on my own anywhere," said Chelsea, who now lives with mum Sue.

"The defence said alcohol was a lot to do with it, but that doesn't give you an excuse," said Sue.

"We are just pleased Oxley went to prison because he was the worst one. He is just an animal."