Vicious Assault near Hereford Rugby Club 1 AM 31.05.14

[Roger]

 

Man Punched And Kicked In Vicious Assault

Police are appealing for the public’s help, and particularly a couple in their mid 20s, in tracing trace two males responsible for a vicious assault and attempted robbery in Hereford.

The offence took place on the Great Western Way walk (known locally as The Lines) near Hereford Rugby Club at just before 1am on Saturday 31 May 2014.

A man in his 50s was walking along the path towards the rugby club and the River Wye footbridge when he was passed by a young couple, holding hands and walking in the opposite direction, who may have witnessed the assault moments later.

The man then saw a male ahead of him and a second male came out of the bushes and joined him. As the victim approached them, one of the men punched him in the face.

He turned and ran in the opposite direction but the two males, believed to be in their 20s, caught him and he was punched to the face again and grappled to the floor.

He was repeatedly kicked and punched until one of the men demanded money and they tried to get his jacket off him.

The victim tried to run down the embankment towards the rugby club, where a function was being held in a marquee on the pitch, to get help but the men grabbed him and continued attacking him as they all ended up at the bottom of the bank. The attackers eventually fled and the victim was able to get help at the rugby club before going for treatment at Hereford Hospital.

Detective Constable Moore said: “This was a vicious, unprovoked and prolonged attack on a middle-aged man in poor health, who thought he was going to die at the hands of these young men.

“We are appealing to the couple who passed him on the footpath a few moments before the attack to contact us as they may have vital information that could identify the attackers. They are described as being in their mid 20s and the woman wore dark jeans and had long light-coloured hair, while the man was wearing blue jeans.â€

The attackers are described as in their mid 20s and both spoke with Eastern European accents. One was 5ft 10in tall, of slim build, with very dark short shiny wavy hair, dark eyebrows, clean shaven and a clear complexion. He was smartly dressed, wearing a pink shirt with a collar, a dark jacket, smart trousers and dark leather shoes.

The other man wore a dark jacket with a white stripe down the front that went down the right side and was about 1.5ins wide. It is thought, due to their smart clothes, they may have been on a night out in the city before the incident.

Anyone who recognises the possible witnesses or the attackers, or has information that could help the police investigations, is asked to contact DC Moore on the non emergency number 101 quoting incident number 032s 310514.

Alternatively information can be passed on anonymously by calling the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or completing its online form by logging on to www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

 

Issued:  Thursday 5 June 2014

 

 

West Mercia Police

 

Both suspects spoke with Eastern European accents which is highly relevant as it rules out anyone who speaks with a local accent.

The Hereford Times has got straight onto this press release and has produced it's own story which has edited out the reference to Eastern European accents:

Both offenders spoke with Eastern European accents which is highly relevant as it rules out anyone who speaks with a local accent.

The Hereford Times has obviously got straight onto the story and has produced it's own version of the release:

One of the attackers is described as being 5ft 10ins tall and of slim build. He had very dark, short and wavy hair, and was clean shaven. He wore a pink shirt with a collar, a dark jacket, smart trousers and dark leather shoes.

The other man is described as wearing a dark jacket with a white stripe down the front.

 

 

 

Hereford Times

[twowheelsgood]

And, as we've come to expect, no comments allowed on the HT site - censorship still alive and well under the new editor then.

[dippyhippy]

Surely when the police are trying to find the perpetrators of an attack such as this, it's important that as full a description of the suspects as possible, is given to the public??

It matters not one jot whether accents are local, Irish, East European, Brummie or Welsh.....it forms part of that description.

 

The police have released this information, and are asking for the publics assistance. By not releasing all of the relevant information, the HT are in effect, with holding facts which could identify the attackers.

[Roger]

The police have released this information, and are asking for the publics assistance. By not releasing all of the relevant information, the HT are in effect, with holding facts which could identify the attackers.

 

Yup ... I appreciate why no comments are allowed on that item (they have insufficient time/staff to Moderate any potential xenophobic comments) but the accents are highly relevant to the appeal ... 

[dippyhippy]

Evening Roger!

Is that the reason then??
I always thought that posters were responsible for the content of their posts, and as such could/should be taken to task for anything that breaches the law of the land!!

I was under the impression that comments weren't enabled on stories which could prejudice any potential trial.

I remember Fffiona herself once posting a comment blasting "irresponsible"posters, when it was all kicking off with those two random stabbings in Hereford.

The "irresponsible"pair??

Megilleland and myself!!

Neither of us irresponsible posters, in my humble opinion!! 

 

Megilleland had supplied a link to another news source, who had covered events with far more information than HT, and I had read it, and commented that I had done so!

Since that time, more and more stories do not have comments enabled it seems!

[Roger]

The new Editor needs to look at the whole website operation ... It seems chaotic at best ... My primary irritation is that there is no author attributed to virtually anything that's published! I know it's hard to attribute an author when it's a straight copy from the WMP website but when the copy is warped with a sneaky edit then it morphs into an agenda! Don't forget this will soon be the only weekly paper around here and I'm sure a few people buy it religiously and treat the content as gospel ... !!!

[Roger]

Plus I got to forgot to mention that by 'airbrushing' out Eastern European content then the HT was minimising the impact on hovering voters who might be tempted to vote UKip at the next poll ... 

[Ubique]

I emailed the Editor re the missing two words describing the accent of the alledged attacked , and good on him - he has replied

 

 

 

Hello Ubique

 

The story - that did not make this week's print edition - that has been earmarked for next week's issue and has the missing phrase in it.

Sometimes web versions of our stories are abridged and that is what has happened on this occasion.

 

Thank you for contacting me.

 

Clive Joyce

Editor

Hereford Times

[dippyhippy]

Always good to get a speedy response!

 

I still feel though, that even an "abridged" report should contain the most important facts, and in this case, that should be as full a description as possible!!

[Roger]

The HT item wasn't very 'abridged' ... It just basically missed out the 'Eastern European' angle ...

 

Plus the website has an 'edit' button and following concerns about the missing content it has still not been used to insert the relevant information by staff.

 

The story obviously didn't make this weeks HT as the press release was issued long after printing  ~ a problem for weekly papers when a biggish story is released virtually a whole week before it might get printed. It will be seriously old news by next week ... 

[Ubique]

Thank you Roger for enlighting me with that information !!

[Roger]

Thank you Roger for enlighting me with that information !!

 

Very droll ... ;-)