Hoodies assault man in unprovoked attack on Hindle Street

A gang of youths approached a man as he walked down Hindle Street on Friday night and proceeded to punch and kick him repeatedly in an unprovoked attack.

The attack may be connected to a separate incident in the same area on July 6th. This time a 49 year old man was targeted on Barley Bank Street in the same area of town. The attackers are described as male, aged between 18 and 22 and all wearing hoodies.

Detective Sergeant Ian Geogarty, of Darwen police, told the Lancahire Telegraph: “I urge anybody who witnessed the attack or has information relating to the offence to come forward."

This type of cowardly attack will come as a shock to local residents. One man who lives close by and wishes not to be named told us "I'm often out walking the dog after I return home from the pub around midnight and I've never given a thought about this type of thing in the past. It used to be such a safe area."

Both Hindle Street and Barley Bank Street are close to Avondale Primary School and the Alexandra Pub in the Sunnyhurst area of Darwen. Some houses on Hindle Street have been derelict for quite some time awaiting demolition as part of the towns 'regeneration'. As a result parts of the street have started to look very deserted with boarded up windows.

In August 2007 Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend were subject to a similar unprovoked attack by a gang of youths. Lancaster, 20, later died in hospital as a result of her injuries. Five youths aged 15-17 were charged with Sophie's murder and grievous bodily harm.

As the trial opened the prosecution told the hearing: "Sophie and Robert were singled out not for anything they had said or done, but because they looked and dressed differently." This was another unprovoked attack and Sophies mother said "The thing that makes me most angry is that it is seen as an isolated incident, maybe the seriousness of what happened to Sophie is isolated, but attacks are far from isolated. Just because you follow a different culture you are targeted; you are seen as easy pickings."

Despite two of the attackers receiving life sentences for the murder of Sophie Lancaster these type of attacks still seem all too common on our streets. The attacks are cowardly and unprovoked but are happening more often. A separate incident saw a couple in their twenties attacked in Sunnyhurst Woods, Darwen in May. This particular incident saw a 28 year old man suffer a broken jaw, his 29 year old brother being knocked unconscious and his 39 year old girlfriend being hit over the head with a bottle. Up to 20 youths were involved in this attack.

At the time Det Con Rachel Hill, of Darwen CID, said: "These three people were enjoying an afternoon drink in the sun when they were set-upon by this group of teenagers for no apparent reason. Random attacks like this are rare in Darwen and I urge anyone with information about who was responsible to contact us." Unfortunately unprovoked attacks aren't as rare as they used to be.

If you have any information relating to this latest attack you can contact the police on 0845 1 25 35 45

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