Four years after Levi Bellfield left her for dead, Kate Sheedy was in court as a jury ruled that he was guilty of attempting to murder her by driving his car back and forth over her broken body.

Miss Sheedy, who is now 21, emerged to cheers outside the Old Bailey and told reporters: “I hope that this verdict brings some comfort to all those families that have been affected by the despicable actions of just one man.”

Miss Sheedy, who was the head girl at her convent school and is now studying politics and history at the University of York, said: “I will never be able to forget what happened to me. At the time I was celebrating moving on to a new chapter in my life. All that hope and excitement was taken from me.”

She still bears the mental and physical scars left by the attack in May 2004. Miss Sheedy was returning to her home in Isleworth from a night out with friends. She was just minutes from home when Bellfield attacked.

She told the jury that she had dragged herself along the road and was able to make a mobile telephone call to her mother. The impact of the attack “crushed and fractured” her liver, punctured both her lungs, one of which collapsed, and broke several ribs and her collarbone. Her lower back was “ripped open”.

Miss Sheedy spent a week in hospital, sedated in intensive care, and endured 12 months of treatment. During her recovery in hospital, Miss Sheedy begged a policeman: “Please get the bastards.”

She told police how a white people carrier with blacked-out windows had been waiting at the bus stop with its engine on and lights off. A “sixth sense” told her to cross the road. “It just made me feel nervous,” she said. “I felt very, very uneasy.”

When she crossed the entrance to an industrial estate, the lights of the Toyota Previa flashed and its engine revved. “It drove straight towards me,” she said. “It sounded and looked like it was trying to go as fast as it possibly could. I was thrown to the ground, so I was face-down lying on the road. It drove straight over me.

“My head was under the car but my legs were protruding out of the driver’s side. Once the whole front wheel had driven over me it continued and then braked suddenly and then reversed so the wheel went back over me again. It was going incredibly quickly.”

Miss Sheedy wept in court when she spoke of the pain caused by her horrific injuries.

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