Security guard loses sight after attack
A race day security guard is blind in one eye after two men he told to stop urinating on a fence unleashed a ‘‘violent and senseless attack’’.
Terry Webb was working at Riccarton Racecourse during the Cup and Show Week races on November 18.
The 45-year-old deliberated before taking the job. He’d stopped regular security work months earlier to focus on getting his level 2 truck licence next year.
‘‘It’s my life goal to be a truck driver,’’ he said.
That dream is gone. After two surgeries, a Christchurch Hospital surgeon told him on December 1 he was permanently blind in one eye. ‘‘It was a very bitter pill to swallow.
‘‘I’ve been driving since the age of 18 and to have one of the things I love ripped away from me is basically like losing a loved one,’’ he said, wiping his eye with a tissue.
Webb finished his shift on the main gate at 11.30pm and went inside.
Just after midnight, he noticed two men urinating on a fence near the Canterbury Jockey Club carpark.
When he told them to stop, they confronted him.
One of the men picked up an object and struck Webb in the face, causing considerable injuries to his left eye.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Worner said: ‘‘This type of senseless attack upon someone just doing their job is abhorrent, completely unnecessary and cowardly.
‘‘Unfortunately for the victim, he has lost his sight permanently in this eye.’’
Worner said said police were interested in speaking to two men who were kicked out of the Racecourse Hotel about 11pm on November 18.
The victim described the first offender as European, skinny, in his mid-30s and about 182cm tall. The man wore black pants and a black top with a red logo on it. He was seen holding and drinking from a green bottle.
The other offender was described as a Pacific Islander, in his mid 30s, of solid build and about 165cm tall. He wore blue jeans and a blue button-up shirt.
Anyone who saw two men walking into the Riccarton Racecourse just after midnight or remembers two men being kicked out of the Racecourse Hotel was asked to call Christchurch Police on (03) 363-7400.