An Ipswich woman has described her shock at coming out of her front door and seeing two men wearing balaclavas and carrying machetes chasing after two other men.

The witness, who lives in Cecil Road, near Ipswich town centre, said she had gone into shock and had frozen because of what she was seeing, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

The woman, who gave her evidence at Ipswich Crown Court from behind a screen, said she had looked to her left and saw a man standing by a car staring directly at her.

“He smiled at me and that scared me because of what was going on to my right. I thought he could be a dangerous man,” said the witness.

She had immediately gone back inside her house and had called the police.

Before the court is 18-year-old Daniel Das Neves, of Risby Close, Ipswich, who has denied affray and having an article with a blade on January 31.

Matthew Bagnall, prosecuting, has alleged that Das Neves was seen brandishing a machete in Cecil Road and Barrack Lane.

He said the issue in the case was likely to be whether the machete was real or a “plastic look alike machete”.

The trial continues.