‘Some lad’s just took my mate’s
THIS is the horrifying and brutal reality of Greater Manchester’s gangland warfare.
“Some... lad’s just took my mate’s hand off with an axe,” a panicked 999 caller tells the operator. “His hand is nearly off.” When the control room asks him to go over to his pal, his reply is equally chilling: “I can’t. There’s 20 lads there.
“We’ve just had trouble with these lads, so they turned up in cars and got an axe out.”
Even more chilling is confirmation from police that this attack began as a simple road rage incident – and the victim was a tree surgeon working nearby trying to keep order in the chaos.
The clip is from the opening of BBC documentary The Detectives: Taking Down An OCG.
This series follows a specialist police unit in Rochdale trying to dismantle the Adam OCG, based on the Newbold Estate in the town.
And the beginning of episode one, now on iplayer, does not leave viewers in any doubt over how violent the gang members can be.
Moments after the audience hear the 999 call, the victim, 18-yearold Cameron Brooksbank is seen talking to police.
Tearful and fearful, he recalls the events of October 17, 2017.
“Four or five cars turned up with people in.
“I pushed myself to the front of the crowd telling everyone to calm down.”
He continues in a later scene: “The first hit was on my left hand side just under my armpit.
“It went that far in he had to yank it back out.
“I felt something warm and wet.
“As I turned around I saw the axe was about here [gesturing to the side of his head] and I put my arm up.
“The axe went through the top of my wrist and then it shattered my bone.
“I remember absolutely every single second of that day.”
Eventually, Cameron would get his day in court.
There, it was revealed the lad had managed to stagger away and was airlifted to hospital where he underwent life-saving emergency surgery.
His hand was partially reattached, but then required a further five surgeries in the two years