A woman was attacked in her bedroom by a man wielding a samurai sword just two weeks before an arson attack on her home.

Dawn Higgins was in bed with her partner when Kevin Denny suddenly appeared in her bedroom, she told a jury at Lewes Crown Court.

Miss Higgins, 34, said she had no idea that Denny was in the house until she realised he was in her room as she lay in bed talking to her partner in the early hours of May 31, last year.

She said: “We were just lying there talking and things. We were not expecting Kevin Denny to be there.

“He was holding a samurai sword with a 12 inch blade. There was a fight and I was injured.”

She said another man in the house came and chased Denny away.

Miss Higgins denied there was bad feeling between her and Denny because he had rejected her approaches and she had spread rumours about him.

Two weeks later a “shadowy figure in a hoodie” was seen at her door in Chiltern Close, West Green, Crawley, shortly before a burning carpet was pushed through the letterbox.

Miss Higgins and two teenagers inside the house escaped through the back door during the incident in the early hours of June 15 last year.

Denny, 33, of Hillmead, Crawley, denies arson with intent to endanger life.

He also denies an alternative charge of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

It is alleged the attack happened soon after Miss Higgins and Denny had a row in the Rose and Crown pub in Ifield Road, Crawley.

James Walsh said he saw Denny walk past his house with two girls shortly before the blaze started.

He said: “I heard one of the girls say he had better get something flammable.

“Denny said, 'Don't worry, I will. I know where she lives.' He said he was going to his lock up around the corner.”

Mr Walsh said he knew about the bad feeling between Denny and Miss Higgins and rang a friend who knew her to tell him to let her know about what he had overheard.

He added: “I am certain it was Kevin Denny.

“He is well known about Crawley. Once he took his clothes off at a soccer match and ran across the pitch.”

The trial continues.