Teenage gang targeted wrong Navy veteran
A NAVY veteran was assaulted after being confronted by a group of three boys while in his wheelchair – but surprised them by landing punches on a teenager who grabbed him.
Jim Kimpton, 59, said he was terrified when a teenager in a hoodie grabbed hold of him at a gated block of Swansea flats.
He alleged the trio had previously gained access to the car park underneath the Strand Court flats and climbed up to a “false balcony” and thrown items on to the street below.
He said he was returning from the LC gym on Tuesday at around 7.40pm when the incident took place.
“I was on the phone because a friend had rung me to say these three were directly below her flat,” he said. “They came down the path, so I said, ‘Who are you? You don’t live here, what are you doing?’
“One of them said, ‘We don’t care that you’re in a wheelchair’.
“Another said, ‘Get out of the way, you cripple’.
Mr Kimpton claimed the youth, who was the largest of the three, then leaned over on his bike and grabbed him – but was in for a surprise.
“I went towards him slightly, then grabbed him,” he said.
“Then I started hitting him with my right hand.”
Mr Kimpton, who has a spinal disease, said the teenager fell on his backside as a result.
He said he dialled 999, and the boys disappeared on to High Street. Mr Kimpton said the boys were aged 15-plus and between 5ft 6in and 5ft 10in, wearing hoodies, dark trousers, and one of them had a white bike.