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The night a smoker woke up in hospital
7:00am Tuesday 6th May 2008
Comments (21)A MAN who popped outside a pub for a cigarette woke up in Southend Hospital after being beaten up.
The 35-year-old was drinking with friends in O'Neills in Southend High Street, when he went outside for a cigarette.
The next thing the victim remembers is waking in Southend Hospital with two black eyes, bruising and swelling to his head and his face.
His friends had found him lying unconscious on the pavement and called an ambulance.
The victim is now at home, but does not remember anything about the attack, except it was carried out by a gang of men.
Investigating officer PC Paul Sampson wants to hear from anyone who may have seen or heard the attack take place, or anyone who saw a group of men acting suspiciously.
Call PC Sampson at Southend police station on 0300 3334444.
Your Say YourEcho
Francis Grubb, Westcliff says...
9:58am Tue 6 May 08
Could the relationship between drinking and violence be a particularly British thing? I've travelled around and lived in mainland Europe a fair bit, but never noticed things as bad as here.
Could it be our rubbish way of venting our frustration & pent-up aggression?
Yours Psychoanalyically,
Frank
Nick BURTON, Southend says...
10:05am Tue 6 May 08
The crime capital of Essex.
phil, Southend says...
12:42pm Tue 6 May 08
Dave, Westcliff says...
1:51pm Tue 6 May 08
a) more CCTV cameras than southend
b) more bars & clubs than southend
c) more POLICE than southend
To sum it up Southend is not the best place to drink
Helen, Basildon says...
2:07pm Tue 6 May 08
The same thing happened to our son several weeks ago,doing the same thing, having a fag outside the pub, luckily for him he survived, unlike that poor gentleman whom was pulled from his bicycle in Bedforshire and kicked and beaten to death by four yobs just for the fun of it!
He had served previously in the forces on Peace envoys and the like, until he retired to work in a factory to maintain his independence, only to be trashed and robbed of 50p as he lay dying by such low life scum.
They should all be taken out just like him, give them a taste of their own medicine!
Fortunately, one of the mothers of the yobs overheard
her son bragging to his friends about how he enjoyed seeing the man die before him and she noticed blood on her sons trainer and called the Police.
Fortunately, all four were arrested and charged with the gentleman's murder as a result of the DNA on her sons trainer.
Almost every day you hear of this kind of attack and its usually drug related fuelled by alcohol too.
Marshwalker, Shoeburyness says...
3:22pm Tue 6 May 08
karateman1964, Poole Dorset says...
3:59pm Tue 6 May 08
things have got worse in the last 20 years
we do not want these wasters in our armed forces
give em bread and water and 6 months hard labour they wont do it again if they know the punishment is going to be harsher 2nd time round..
at the moment there is no deterrent...they have no fear of the law...and we are probably the worst country in europe for this.
Jex, essex says...
4:29pm Tue 6 May 08
chill out, Benfleet says...
5:13pm Tue 6 May 08
The Vicar, Basildon says...
5:14pm Tue 6 May 08
No nicking my idea, Renaissance Southend!
beth, hawkwell says...
5:49pm Tue 6 May 08
The Vicar wrote:that wont work, my dog is fussy what she eats.
Build a giant meat grinder to drop these lowlifes in and turn them into dogfood. Premium chunks of chav. No nicking my idea, Renaissance Southend!
evilc, essex says...
6:39pm Tue 6 May 08
JG, Southend says...
7:03pm Tue 6 May 08
lauren hyams, leigh on sea says...
8:09pm Tue 6 May 08
JG wrote:i have to agree with you there! I dont like going out in the dark on my own,it's kinda scary..we all read horrible stuff thats happened in southend high street,and when stuff does happen,there is no police to help us all out! we need more police on the streets to stop these nasty horrible people beating n terrorising people!
I had the misfortune of being in the town centre on Friday night.What an eye opener that was! It was quite early (9pm) but there were no end of people drinking on the street,abusing passers by.This also included the harrassment of a man who obviously had learning difficulties. We went to the cinema only to return to our car at 11.30 to find it had been vandalised.Of course not a policeman to be seen.If they`re not in the town centre on a friday night where are they? I`m ashamed of the town that I`ve lived in all my life and am filled with dread every time my young son goes out in the evening.It`s bad enough being in the high street during the day but at night I`d say it`s a no-go area now.
mm, southend says...
8:32pm Tue 6 May 08
I being the person who was attacked suffered horrific injures in which i did nothing to provoke . I am recovering from a fracturing of the skull in 2 places as well as the facial disfigurement which is going to stay with me for life. I just hope the police actually catch these thugs of our society, so further incidents like this do not occur again.
Francis Grubb, Westcliff says...
8:33pm Tue 6 May 08
JG wrote:No-go area? Tosh! It has all those CCTV cameras there, which catch all this stuff in high definition. All images are watched continuously by police 24/7, who interpret any dodgy body language and lip-read what any young scallies says then act upon any potential misdemeanour with lightning speed, thus making our High Street at night one of the main reasons why people flock to Southend.
I had the misfortune of being in the town centre on Friday night.What an eye opener that was! It was quite early (9pm) but there were no end of people drinking on the street,abusing passers by.This also included the harrassment of a man who obviously had learning difficulties. We went to the cinema only to return to our car at 11.30 to find it had been vandalised.Of course not a policeman to be seen.If they`re not in the town centre on a friday night where are they? I`m ashamed of the town that I`ve lived in all my life and am filled with dread every time my young son goes out in the evening.It`s bad enough being in the high street during the day but at night I`d say it`s a no-go area now.
Or is it time for my medicine again, Matron?
Frank
Helen, Basildon says...
8:59pm Tue 6 May 08
mm wrote:Point is, the law is far too lenient with these thugs and its about time things were made tougher for offenders to the point where an example is set and to others of the same ilk!
I thank most of you for your comments, apart from the person who said its a good reason to give up smoking !!! I being the person who was attacked suffered horrific injures in which i did nothing to provoke . I am recovering from a fracturing of the skull in 2 places as well as the facial disfigurement which is going to stay with me for life. I just hope the police actually catch these thugs of our society, so further incidents like this do not occur again.
Why should any of us be targetted and assaulted for just being?
Our son, suffered at the hands of six (yes, six on to one) brutal animals whom garotted him around the neck, beat and kicked his head like a football as well as his stomach and not being satisfied with that, used a club to smash his knee caps and broke his nose!
Fortunately for our son, two men from a neighbouring pub came to his rescue to pull them off, apart from one other person whom sustained a black eye as he tried to help our son. I cannot thank all of them for their bravery in stepping in to help prevent an even more serious outcome?
The hospital told our son he was lucky that he wasn't drinking out of a straw after the ordeal, but still he still needed constructive facial surgery to allow him to breathe and has to undergo further surgery in the near future.
All this, for just minding his own business - I'd love to catch the B's that did this to us all as a family and his friends too, I'd have so much satisfaction at seeing them squirm and beg for their freedom. Give them a one way ticket to a desert island with shark infested waters should they even think of escaping!
They are no use to man or beast!
Hope you recover after this terrible ordeal and can go about your life again without feeling under threat.Take very good care.
Upset reader, southend says...
9:43pm Tue 6 May 08
Friend of Victim, Southend says...
10:37pm Tue 6 May 08
Girl, Work says...
3:06pm Thu 8 May 08
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Dave, Essex says...
9:30am Tue 6 May 08
Why would anyone do this to someone else, make you feel tough does it? think your a gangster, your not whoever doing this is the lowest of the low. Sick of hearing stories like this.