Man stabbed in head with bike’s seat post
DETECTIVES are hunting two teenagers who set upon a cyclist and stabbed him in the skull with a piece of bike frame during a shocking assault in Runcorn.
Their victim Chris Shields, 39, of Hallwood Park, suffered a depressed fracture in the attack and had to undergo surgery.
The incident has left him living in fear and sparked shock and outrage among residents.
His mother Barbara Chamberlain said the youths attacked ‘like a pack’ of animals ‘going in for the kill’.
On Facebook she branded the boys ‘miniterrorists’. They were about 14-15 years old, she said, adding that there were about 10 involved.
Mrs Chamberlain, 60, said the attack happened after her son visited Halton Lodge shops on his bike. There was a verbal exchange and Mr Shields threw his bike towards the boys, she said, and tried to leave. But he stumbled into bushes on Whitchurch Way and was punched and one of the attackers stabbed his skull with a piece of frame that connected to bike seat, she said. A girl moved him to safety and called 999 and his brother, as Mr Shields pointed the numbers to her, unable to speak or walk himself.
Cheshire police said officers were called to Whitchurch Way in Halton Lodge at 8.27pm on Thursday, April 6.
A constabulary spokesman said two teenagers had become violent and attacked him, hitting his ● head with a bicycle seat.
The first suspect was white, 14 to 16 years old, about 5ft 6ins tall, with short dark hair. He was wearing a black waistlength puffer jacket. His accomplice was slim, in his teens, with thin blonde shoulder-length hair and a slim face. He was wearing a grey hooded top.
Up to 12 teenagers were present at the time.
A dispersal zone was in place over the weekend.
Mr Shields was released from hospital on Monday.
Mrs Chamberlain said: “A gang of youths started giving him a load of verbals. He gave a little bit back like ‘go away’ as you do, trying to get past them.
“They started coming at him. He was obviously intimidated. He said ‘come any further I might throw my bike at you in defence’ which he did in the end. Ten of them were about to jump him. He threw the bike, went to pick it up and said ‘go away’. He could see out of the corner of his eyes a lad on his bike removing the saddle from it.
“He ran away from it, tripped over into some bushes at which point they had all followed him, jumped in, punched him in the head and he got stabbed in the head with the post that goes in the bike for the seat.”
DI Clare Coleman, of Runcorn CID, called it a ‘particularly vicious attack’ and said the victim was ‘very shaken’.
She said: “We are determined to do all that we can to trace the people responsible for this appalling act.
“We are continuing to carry out a number of enquiries – these include examining CCTV footage, forensic analysis and speaking to local residents. Our investigation will continue over the coming days. As with all investigations, information from the public is vital and I would urge anyone with any information, no matter how small, to contact the team here at Runcorn.”
Anyone with any information should call Cheshire police on 101 quoting incident 877 of April 6 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 101. OR CALL