Man steps in as gang are seen ‘kicking boy in head’
DRIVER HELPS TEEN BEING ATTACKED
A MAN has spoken of his anger after intervening when a group of schoolchildren were seen “kicking a boy in the head” by the side of a busy road.
Sascha Thompson, 31, was driving along Calvert Lane at 8pm on Wednesday, when he saw “30 or 40” teenagers kicking another youngster on the floor.
“I jumped straight out of my van and started shouting and running towards them,” said the father-of-two.
“I didn’t even think about what they would do to me. I’m a grown man, I can handle myself, but I wasn’t going to just let them kick somebody in the head and get away with it.”
Mr Thompson said he was the only driver to get out of his car and help, and believed the youngsters to be aged 14 to 16.
They were congregated on the grassed area near to the former railway bridge, and several of them were believed to be filming the incident on their mobile phones.
“I just saw red,” he said. “I just kept thinking, ‘What if that was my child on the floor?’ There was a queue of traffic behind me, but I knew I needed to get out and help.
“Part of me wanted to grab something out of my van and chase them, but I didn’t. I knew I would get into trouble, so I just ran at them shouting.
“I just hope they don’t post anything on social media because I’ll be in it looking angry, but I had to say something.”
Mr Thompson said the youths parted into two large groups and fled the area, and the boy on the floor walked off in the direction of Heron supermarket.
“I’m so surprised he was able to just get up and walk away, they were proper going for him,” he said. “Hull’s getting a lot worse, I’m sick of it here, now.
“Seeing that has really rattled me and I immediately called the police to make sure the kid got home safe to his mum and dad.
“He might have done something really bad to the other person, I don’t know what the fight was about, but nobody deserves to be kicked in the head.”
Mr Thompson alerted the public to the fight by posting about the incident on the Hull Crime Watch Facebook group, where he received hundreds of comments in support of his actions.
CJ Townend said: “Well done you! Disgusting human beings.”
Lynsey Jackson said: “Well done you for getting out of your van. Many people wouldn’t. I hope the lad was OK.”
Richard Whelan commented: “Well done, many people would have just driven past, nice to see someone stepping in to help.”
Claire Giblin said: “You are an inspirational person. Well done for helping this young man.”
A spokesman for Humberside Police said: “We are looking for more information in relation to a report that a group of youths were involved in a large fight in Calvert Lane in Hull last night.
“It was called into us at 8pm. Officers attended quickly and after a search no youths or victim were found in the area.
“We would like to find out what happened. Were you there? Are you the victim?”
Call 101 with log number 548 of 24/10/18.