Ex-Fall drummer was the victim of rail station attack
THE former drummer of The Fall was the victim of a brutal attack that saw two men put behind bars, it has been revealed.
Kieron Melling suffered serious head injuries was savagely beaten when he tried to stop the men harassing a teenage boy at Smithy Bridge Station in Rochdale on a service travelling from Manchester Victoria to Burnley.
He was attacked after asking Michael Hannan and Matthew Crompton, both aged 28, to stop pestering him and the teenager during the journey in March last year.
Witnesses said Kieron was ‘beaten to a pulp’ and left ‘lying in a pool of blood.’
Kieron, then aged 34 – who played with the cult post-punk band from 2006 until frontman Mark E. Smith’s death in January this year – was left with a bleed on the brain after being repeatedly punched and kicked to the body and head in the attack.
Hannan, of Tynwald Road, Blackburn, and Crompton, of Stopes Brow, Blackburn, were jailed at Manchester Crown Court, as reported in last week’s Observer. Both men admitted charges of occasioning actual bodily harm.
Hannan was jailed for 12 months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £140.
Crompton was jailed for nine months and also ordered to pay a £140 victim surcharge.
Following the attack, dozens of Fall fans sent their best wishes to Kieron, who runs Hilltown Studios in Colne, Lancashire, on band forum The Fall Online.
Superjudge wrote: “Get on the mend Keiron,” while DeusErac wished Kieron a ‘quick, comfortable, and full recovery.’
Octagonals said: “Get well soon! Violence like this is always unwarranted. My deepest sympathies for this undeserved encounter with base humans.”
Det Sgt Mark Haviland, from the British Transport Police, said: “Thanks to the overwhelming evidence we had against Hannan and Crompton, both defendants were forced to plead guilty to these charges.
“Hannan and Crompton unleashed a brutal and prolonged attack, leaving the victim with a number of long-term injuries including a serious bleed on the brain. I am grateful that the judge saw fit to imprison both of them. This was an extremely complex enquiry and I would like to thank my team of officers who helped bring these violent individuals before the court.”