Women attacked by men after night out
AWOMAN has been left bruised and swollen after a group of friends were attacked while walking home from a night out.
Abbie Mackay, 22, was left with a black eye and a swollen face after being assaulted by three men in Cardiff on Saturday night.
Ms Mackay said she and two friends had been walking down Wharton Street in the city centre when they were approached by the men. She said that the men became violent after they told them to go away. She said they threw a sign and pulled one girl’s hair before punching Ms Mackay in the face.
Ms Mackay, who has recently returned to Cardiff after travelling the world, said: “We were walking back and this group of boys started walking next to us and just saying things and coming really close. They were making all these comments so we told them to leave us alone as we were going home. One picked up this cone or sign and just chucked it.”
Ms Mackay said the group of men became more agitated as the girls continued to tell them to leave them alone. She said: “My friend said ‘what was that?’ and he literally turned around, went to her, grabbed her by the hair and spun her around. She slammed to the ground. He had my friend’s extensions in his hand and just stood there.”
According to the Cardiff resident, one of the men also approached her after she threw some noodles in the group’s direction. She said: “I threw a handful of noodles in their direction. I know it’s ridiculous but I just thought of it. I wasn’t aggressive, I just threw them.
“He came over, picked up my box of noodles, threw it, and punched me straight in the face.
“My friend was already on the phone to the police. It was so quick – it was literally a case of three to five minutes. It went from zero to 100, it was awful.”
Pictures after the incident show Ms Mackay’s face badly swollen.
Police are now investigating and examining CCTV footage.
She said: “I took some Ibuprofen and put on an ice pack and we all said it would be OK in the morning. I woke up and that’s when the bruising started.”
Since posting about the incident online, Ms Mackay has said she wants to raise awareness. She said: “I’m not going to let it knock my confidence, it just angered me. My friends and I are very strong-minded, which is why we weren’t scared to tell them to go away. I’ve spent six months in Asia and not a single thing happened.”
A spokeswoman for South Wales Police said: “Cardiff remains a safe city and such violence will not be tolerated. Officers are making inquiries.”
Call 101 with information.