Neighbours heard the screams of a woman who was attacked with a metal bar in her Hamilton home on Sunday night.

The 23-year-old woman was watching television alone in her Edgecumbe Street home, when she heard a noise coming from the third floor at 11.30pm.

She walked upstairs to investigate the sound and was confronted by a man wearing a black balaclava and a white-face skull pattern on the back of his black hoodie.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ The woman had been watching television when she heard a noise in her house.

Police said he was carrying a metal pole or bar, about 1.2m long, with a hook on the end of it.

He then hit the woman in the head with the bar.

Neighbours heard her screams as she ran down the stairs and out of her house.

REBEKAH PARSONS-KING/Fairfax NZ The woman was attacked with a metal pole or bar with a hook on the end, police said.

The man followed her and continued to assault her outside.

One of the neighbours went to help the victim and the man ran away, down the bank at the back of the houses into the neighbouring park.

The street is on the northern edge of Hamilton's central business district and minutes away from prime riverside real estate.

Edgecumbe Park, home to the Waikato Table Tennis Stadium, runs along behind the houses.

Although at least three neighbours heard the woman in distress, only one made a call to the police and went to assist.

"Unfortunately, it was relatively late on a Sunday evening. A number of people did hear the scream, but only one has come to help her," said Hamilton detective Terry Wilson.

"[One resident's] initial response was to rush and help her neighbour and she has done that and fortunately, the offender has taken off immediately after."

The horror-movie scenario of an intruder attacking you in your own home is a very unusual situation, he said.

"She was pretty distraught, and obviously going through the emotional rollercoaster with dealing with something like that. Of course it is [everyone's worst nightmare], absolutely. That's why we're putting measures in place to investigate as far as we can in this early stage."

Police were waiting until the woman was in a more able state to talk thoroughly about what happened. She was at Waikato Hospital undergoing surgery for her injuries at the time.

It is currently unknown how the intruder got into the house.

Police cordoned off the property for most of Monday, blocking off access to two flats.

But signs of the attack remained after the cordon was lifted, including blood near the front door and in a courtyard.

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said they heard screams getting louder, which they believe was when the victim ran down the driveway.

"Certainly last night there was a crowd on the street," the neighbour said.

The young woman was lucid and being helped by neighbours by the time they got out.

"Obviously it's a bit of a shock because we all know [her] and you never expect something like this to happen. It's quite traumatic."

They understood two offenders had hidden by another house before fleeing down the street, towards the Waikato Table Tennis Stadium.

Neighbour Margaret Tapsell was woken up by screaming and hitting noises, and opened her window once she gathered her wits.

"I was listening and I didn't hear anything so I just shut the window," she said.

"You feel pretty stink knowing that [attack]'s what's happened now."

"God knows where the guy came from and why he would pick that place."

Police had been scouring the bank behind the property and into the adjacent park.



One policewoman was outside the property and two police cars were stationed on the road by lunchtime on Monday.

Two men in white boiler suits with dust masks were walking around the property, presumably looking for forensic evidence.

Police have been visiting neighbours to ask what they saw and heard.

Hamilton police would like anyone with any information in relation to the serious assault in Whitiora to contact police on 07 858 6200.