Nigel Price in coma after attack on Southampton Common (From Daily Echo)

Nigel Price in coma after attack on Southampton Common

11:41am Tuesday 2nd February 2010 in

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FOR almost three months he has lay, unresponsive, in a hospital bed.

Badly beaten and barely recognisable, Nigel Price suffered life-threatening head injuries during a vicious attack on Southampton Common.

Doctors caring for the 58-year-old – who has no family – can’t be sure he will ever recover.

Now, some ten weeks on from the horrific assault, detectives are hoping the disturbing images of Mr Price’s injuries will help them discover just what happened to him.

Unconscious and covered in blood, he was found by a dog walker the following morning, lying face down in bushes.

It was on the evening of Friday November 13 that Mr Price walked through Southampton Common after leaving The Cowherds pub, where he can be seen on CCTV cameras.

Along Cemetery Lane a short time later he was beaten in an attack that left his eyes and head severely bruised and swollen and his face smothered in blood.

It’s thought he managed to make his way into the centre of the Common where he was discovered the following day.

He was taken to Southampton General Hospital where he remained critically ill in a coma for several weeks. Since then he has made only slight improvement and is now in a semi-conscious state although unable to communicate properly.

A week after the attack police returned to the scene, near Hill Lane and Cemetery Road, in a high-profile operation to try and find out what had happened and trace vital witnesses – but have so far drawn a blank.

They believe Mr Price may have been a victim of a homophobic attack and have taken the unusual step of releasing the graphic images of Mr Price in the hope that someone will come forward.

Detective sergeant Matt Taylor, leading the investigation, said: “Mr Price’s injuries were extremely severe and although his condition has slightly improved he remains in a comalike state and unable to speak to us and tell us what happened.

“We are determined to find those responsible for this attack and bring them to justice, and hope that in releasing these images we will either shock someone into coming forward or jog someone’s memory who may have seen him around the time it happened.”

Det Sgt Taylor added: “It’s likely that dog walkers and joggers will have been on the Common at this time and may have seen Mr Price – we need to hear from them as they may have vital information.”

Officers are particularly trying to locate three people seen around the covered reservoir area at about 7am on the Saturday morning and two men seen talking to the victim around 8.50pm on the night of the attack.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Operation Levy team at Bitterne CID on 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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