DETECTIVES were today examining CCTV footage to determine who assaulted two off-duty firemen when they tried to break up a violent row in the street.
As revealed by the Daily Echo yesterday, the pair were left hospitalised after the vicious attack hours after they returned to Southampton from the funeral of a colleague killed in the Shirley tower block blaze.
The assaults happened between 9.30pm and 10pm in Shirley High Street when the two firefighters, aged 36 and 28, were at the Shirley Hotel.
Earlier in the day they had been in Poole, Dorset, attending the funeral of James Shears, who was killed alongside his colleague Alan Bannon in the flats fire on April 6.
Police say they witnessed a violent row break out between a couple and tried to intervene but were then attacked themselves by a man.
He then ran across the road in the direction of Shirley Precinct, the firemen gave chase and were assaulted again – this time by two men.
One of the firefighters was punched and left unconscious on the ground, suffering a fractured eye socket and cuts to his face that required 20 stitches. The other sustained cuts and bruising.
Detectives at Shirley CID are continuing to investigate the assaults and have taken statements from witnesses.
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