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Student fled in terror following bottle attack
8:27am Tuesday 16th September 2008
By Simon Carr »
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 YourEcho
the real mr x, bitterne says...
10:05am Tue 16 Sep 08
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
nothing surprises anymore, Southampton says...
10:33am Tue 16 Sep 08
We, like Martyn, should be protected by society and UK Law. We are not.
CyberWarrior, Southampton says...
10:36am Tue 16 Sep 08
/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
obelisker, Southampton says...
1:49pm Tue 16 Sep 08
Miles Sway, Scotland says...
3:29pm Tue 16 Sep 08
Finlay, Des Moines Iowa says...
4:50pm Tue 16 Sep 08
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: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.
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.
obelisker, Southampton says...
6:14pm Tue 16 Sep 08
Miles Sway, Scotland says...
7:17pm Tue 16 Sep 08
obelisker wrote:You're right, but I'm in New Scotland - Nova Scotia, Canada.
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.......
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: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!
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?
Denzil, Chilworth says...
10:31pm Tue 16 Sep 08
The Real Denzil, Chilworth says...
11:54pm Tue 16 Sep 08
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
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
Southampton_lad, Southampton says...
3:46pm Wed 17 Sep 08
Hampshire Hog, Soton says...
4:32pm Wed 17 Sep 08
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Martyn West pictured with his mother Isobel
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obelisker, Southampton says...
9:06am Tue 16 Sep 08