A GOOD Samaritan was punched after stepping in to help a man who was beaten and robbed by a pair of thugs.

The victim, who asked not to be named, was travelling to work at 6.30am on Wednesday when he was jumped by a man and a woman near Pitsea station.

The pair shouted a tirade of abuse at him before punching him in the chin before a passing cyclist stopped to intervene and was also attacked.

It comes after a 14-year-old girl was mugged at Laindon Station just two weeks prior.

The latest victim, a 22-year-old from Pitsea, said: “I had to walk to work on Wednesday morning and as I was taking a right up towards the roundabout I saw two people, a man and a woman.

“I then heard them shouting at me, but you get a few hooligans round here so I just shrugged it off and thought that would be the end of it.

“All of a sudden the man grabbed my earphones, snatched them out my ear and punched me straight in the chin.

“I stood there absolutely stunned. He started walking off but then came back and punched me again. All the while the woman with him was just standing there watching, you could tell she was his accomplice.

“She just said ‘please don’t hit me I’m a woman’, but they were both trying to intimidate me when all I was trying to do was get to work.”

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After calling for help, a good samaritan who was passing by stood in between the victim and the couple - wedging his bicycle in the middle of them to keep them apart.

The victim continued: “The man who attacked me then ended up punching him too, I had no idea what to do.

“Thankfully he soon lost his grip, lost interest and left. We walked together to make sure one another was okay, and I thanked him before we parted ways. I never looked back.

“It was so kind to do what he did, he was a complete stranger who stepped in to help.

“The whole thing was very scary, when I got down to the McDonald’s car park I just broke down in tears.

“I was really shaken up, it does make you worry about going to work.

“But you can’t let it affect your life, I’d just remind everyone to stay vigilant.

“It felt like they had done it before.”

Call 101 and quote crime report 42/61481/21.