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Student fled in terror following bottle attack

8:27am Tuesday 16th September 2008

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A TEENAGER has spoken of the moment a bottle was smashed in his face in a gang attack after a night out with his girlfriend.

Student Martyn West, 17, needed 23 stitches in his face after the brutal assault as he walked home from a railway station.

He had spent the evening with his girlfriend in Shirley, Southampton, and was back in Romsey when he was beaten by three drunken teenagers.

The trainee chef was walking along Canal Walk at the turning to Mercer Way when the gang approached him and asked if he had any cigarettes.

When he said he did not one of them said: “Let’s smash him.”

However, another said: “No, he’s all right.”

He went to shake Martyn’s hand but as soon as he grabbed it he punched him in the head and another broke a beer bottle across his face.

Martyn, who studies at Eastleigh College, said: “I was scared and I think if I had been knocked down they would have just kept kicking me while I was on the floor.

“I used to walk past groups of 20 men and not think anything was going to happen. Now I don’t want to go out at night at all.”

Martyn, of Romsey, added: “Because one of them was being all right they lulled me into a false sense of security.

“When I felt the bottle smash against my face all I could think of is I have to get away and I ran off.”

The gang chased him for a few yards but soon gave up and he was able to get to a nearby friend’s house in Withy Close and knocked the door covered in blood.

The friend’s dad immediately called an ambulance, the police and Martyn’s mum Isobel.

Isobel said: “It is the worst phone call I have ever had.

“I screamed down the phone and went running round his friend’s house in my nightie.

“His face was swollen and he was covered in blood.

“The people must be like animals, there is no other way of describing them.

“I think if he had not had the instinct to run they might have killed him.”

The attack left Martyn with a number of stitches over his face, his jaw is too painful for him to eat still while he was also left with injuries to his hand.

Police are investigating.

Anyone with information can contact them on 0845 045 4545.


Your Say YourDaily Echo

obelisker, Southampton says...
9:06am Tue 16 Sep 08

My best wishes go to Martyn for a speedy recovery. The lads that did this are just pathetic cowards,who on their own are feeble minded little nobodies, but when they have safety in their pack they pick on single people because in an even number fight they would be on the floor in seconds. All this is no consolation to Martyn I know. I hope this incident does not knock his confidance to much and I wish him well.

the real mr x, bitterne says...
10:05am Tue 16 Sep 08

because our country is soft on crime this type of this will sadly become more common and like this case not confined to inner city areas.

the thugs who did this should get 5 years hard labour prison. when will the government act ?

itsmehere, hythe says...
10:33am Tue 16 Sep 08

Martyn, hope you are feeling better now. Don't let it stop you living your life (easier said than done). I can't see a way out of this. The kids of today are feral.What on earth can be done to make this country a safe place to live again? I have a lad the same age, and i constantly worry about him when he is out after dark. I just don't know how its all gonna end.

nothing surprises anymore, Southampton says...
10:33am Tue 16 Sep 08

The UK is a soft touch for all, everyone from terrorists to the wilfully unemployed, right down to the scum of society that do this sort of thing for amusement. We are now reaping the rewards.
We, like Martyn, should be protected by society and UK Law. We are not.

CyberWarrior, Southampton says...
10:36am Tue 16 Sep 08

I know of others who have been assaulted/threatened
/abused along Canal Walk. Often these incidents occur in daylight, depending on how daring the little Hood Rats are feeling, which always depends on how big their gang is. One person I know of was cycling home from work and the little scum-bags tried to pull him off his bike! When he retaliated they scattered, like the little rats they are. When asked if he'd reported the assault to the Police he replied "what's the point?". If the Government don't let the Police get tough on these maggots, people will have no choice other to take action themselves.

splatpanik, southampton says...
1:09pm Tue 16 Sep 08

thankfully martyn was not killed. if he was, the police would have opened up a huge investigation into the incident and caught the attackers. unfortunatly though, the investigation will just be the usual dotting i's and crossing t's.

obelisker, Southampton says...
1:49pm Tue 16 Sep 08

Romsey police could'nt catch a cold, sadly these little trailer-trash scum bags will strike again until as splatpanik says, some poor sod is killed.

Miles Sway, Scotland says...
3:29pm Tue 16 Sep 08

Unbelievable - at some point ordinary citizens will have to start carrying a waeapon or some sort simply to walk home safely - what is happening to the UK?

Finlay, Des Moines Iowa says...
4:50pm Tue 16 Sep 08

People in the US do not believe reports I tell them of these attacks by drain slime in Britain -

I called them over and showed them several reports over the last week

In a land where guns are prominent they never get unprovoked attacks that they can recall - The police deal with these cockroaches very effectively and the attack here is irefutably attempted murder. They die here for that if caught in the act and they know it too.

Booze, no effective control and yobbism is rife - Too dangerous for me to return to.

Miles Sway, Scotland says...
6:06pm Tue 16 Sep 08

Finlay wrote:
People in the US do not believe reports I tell them of these attacks by drain slime in Britain - I called them over and showed them several reports over the last week In a land where guns are prominent they never get unprovoked attacks that they can recall - The police deal with these cockroaches very effectively and the attack here is irefutably attempted murder. They die here for that if caught in the act and they know it too.Booze, no effective control and yobbism is rife - Too dangerous for me to return to.
You know what Finlay, only a couple of years ago I'd have argued about how much better the UK is than the states, now I can't. I wouldn't go back either.

obelisker, Southampton says...
6:14pm Tue 16 Sep 08

Hang on Miles, the last I heard Scotland was still part of the U.K, and also home to the Glasgow Kiss and it's fair share of violence..see you Jimmy.......

Miles Sway, Scotland says...
7:17pm Tue 16 Sep 08

obelisker wrote:
Hang on Miles, the last I heard Scotland was still part of the U.K, and also home to the Glasgow Kiss and it's fair share of violence..see you Jimmy.......
You're right, but I'm in New Scotland - Nova Scotia, Canada.
Hampshire born and bred though and truly saddened everytime I read this sort of stuff..
as an aside, isn't Scotland (the real one) desperately trying NOT to be part of the UK?

obelisker, Southampton says...
7:35pm Tue 16 Sep 08

Miles Sway wrote:
obelisker wrote:
Hang on Miles, the last I heard Scotland was still part of the U.K, and also home to the Glasgow Kiss and it's fair share of violence..see you Jimmy.......You're right, but I'm in New Scotland - Nova Scotia, Canada.
Hampshire born and bred though and truly saddened everytime I read this sort of stuff..
as an aside, isn't Scotland (the real one) desperately trying NOT to be part of the UK?
Ahh, you lucky man, and yes just like the Scots, I too would like to get out of the U.K. The England that I would miss does not exist anymore, I just wish that I had anything to offer Canada!

Denzil, Chilworth says...
10:31pm Tue 16 Sep 08

Disgraceful. This wouldn't happen in Chilworth.

The Real Denzil, Chilworth says...
11:54pm Tue 16 Sep 08

yeah wish we were in the USA where it's soooo non-violent, nothing like this would happen there would it Finlay? Maybe you need to get out more and visit the projects. It's been imported here from there, maybe not in the backwoods where you live, but they're to busy drinking moonshine and servicing their immediate family, look at the big cities and surrounding areas though and it's a different story. Same here.
There's Chav types all over the world. Well everywhere with free housing anyway.
That's why we don't have council estates in Chilworth, just good alarm systems to keep them at bay.

Big Boy, Hythe says...
6:15am Wed 17 Sep 08

Why the hell is Finlay still pontificating about how crime free it is in Des Moines. We have already exposed it as having on of the highest rates of rape in the US! OK here is another link showing the crime rate in Des Moines.

http://www.idcide.co
m/citydata/ia/des-mo
ines.htm

It maybe stuck out of the way in a sea of cornfields, but they get up to a lot of violent crime. Please remember that most of us on this side of the pond have an attention span longer than is evidenced on your side!

obelisker, Southampton says...
6:31am Wed 17 Sep 08

Just as a footnote, no wish at all to go to the U.S.A but Canada does look good,and they laugh at Yanks too so that's a plus. security words....bone and wood, what's next hard and knob, someones having a laugh.

Southampton_lad, Southampton says...
3:46pm Wed 17 Sep 08

I must say my ex GF and son live in Mercer Way and I have always walked through Canal Walk on my to and from Romsey at many different times of the day and no matter what time it is there always seems to be gangs or people in hoodies just waiting under lamp posts etc. Maybe Romsey should think about full time Police rather than part time????

Hampshire Hog, Soton says...
4:32pm Wed 17 Sep 08

Southampton Lad you are so right. Having lived in Romsey since a young kid i have always been brought up that the Canal Walk area is a bit notourious. Of course nowadays crimes are so much more ripe and worst. I would most definetly say that to walk there at night is a no no and this is why i can never understand why this area is not policed more.Further up the canal it has been a drug area within it's time they even had a drug den there once until wardens patrolled the area. Not sure if that's done anymore. I sure the low-life scum that did this to the poor lad were probably drugged up or drunk or even both. I have walked across the bridge with yobs hanging about there and it is very imtimidating. I so hope they get their cuppance.

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