I was sucker punched
Celebrity cook knocked out in attack by two thugs
TV COOK Nick Nairn was left battered and bloodied in a savage street attack by a pair of cowardly thugs – who fled when his girlfriend confronted them.
The yobs knocked out the celebrity chef after blindsiding him as he left one of his cook schools.
CELEBRITY chef Nick Nairn has posted pictures of the severe facial injuries he suffered when he was sucker punched by a yob in the early hours of yesterday.
The 58-year-old Michelin-starred cook was approached by two cowardly thugs as he walked back to a hotel with his girlfriend.
Nick was knocked out and left bleeding on the pavement but his brave partner Julia Forster chased away the attackers.
The terrifying ordeal happened in Aberdeen’s Union Street minutes after the pair had left the chef ’s Nick Nairn Cook School, where they had enjoyed a few drinks after work.
Nick tweeted a picture of his bruised and battered face, saying: “I was assaulted this morning on Union St, two feisty chaps did this to me and ran off chased by @joolsfor! I’m a bit peeved but fine.”
He later told the Record he’d been knocked unconscious by one punch.
The dad of two said: “It was one single blow – a punch which I didn’t see coming.
“We passed two guys in their mid-20s. There might have been words said like, ‘There’s the w **** r off the telly’, or something.
“I probably had a smart reply but not aggressive. We walked on but one of them must have doubled back and just punched me straight in the face.
“It knocked me off my feet and I landed on my bahookie, which was quite painful, banged my head and I think I blacked out for a few seconds.
“I look terrible but I’m fine. You could see the blood on the pavement because there was plenty of it – all mine.
“Julia had a go at them, chased them off she did.”
The couple had decided to walk back to their West End hotel just after 1am after being unable to hail a taxi.
Nick added: “We thought ‘Och, we’ll just walk, we’ll be fine’, but the streets were really busy, there was a lot of rowdiness.”
The chef praised the emergency services, especially the police officers who tended to him before he was taken to the city’s Royal Infirmary.
He said: “The cops were fantastic. The two girls who attended us could not have been more thorough. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt that badly but the thing that really shakes you is, ‘What if they’d had a knife, what if your head had hit the edge of the pavement?’
“It’s not a nice thing. I got out of hospital about 5.30am so we were there quite a while.”
Nick admitted the experience had left him “shaken” but he’s not going to let it spoil his Christmas.
He said: “You get a proper fright when that happens. You don’t see it coming.
“One minute you’re walking along, the next minute you’re lying on the pavement bleeding.
“I thought my nose was broken but it’s fine.
“I’ll be carrying on as usual. I’m not letting this get in the way. It just shows you need to be careful.”
Councillor Martin Greig, a former chairman of the Aberdeen Community Safety Partnership, said the attack was “nasty to hear about”.
He added: “This kind of incident is very distressing for Nick as the victim but it also sends out a very negative message about Aberdeen city centre.”
Police are reviewing CCTV footage of the incident.
Constable Alan Gordon said: “We believe two males wearing black jackets and jeans may have information that could assist us with our inquiries.”