A man has told how he and his girlfriend were brutally attacked by a group of boys and girls who left them both with broken ankles.
In a random assault, which even shocked police, Tom Bebbington, 45, and Emma Roughley, 43, were beaten and robbed as they walked home from their local pub. A gang pounced on the pair from behind in Oldham.
Tom suffered a bleed on the brain and a broken right ankle, and Emma has had to have pins and plates fitted into her left ankle.
The shocking attack took place on Huddersfield Road, Oldham , on July 4, at around 12.20am.
The couple were making the short walk along Huddersfield Road to their home on Equitable Street after an evening in the Junction Inn.
Both were injured after being pushed to the ground by the attackers who then rifled through their pockets and took their mobile phones and wallets.
The couple were taken to Royal Oldham Hospital where they were treated for their injuries.
Tom said: “We were walking home and were attacked from behind, we didn’t have a clue who it was. That’s all we know, people came up and called the police and ambulances, we didn’t get out of the hospital until the Tuesday night.
“We had our pockets gone through but we didn’t have much on us.
“Emma is struggling a bit because she can’t get out, we have a lot of stairs to climb so it’s a bit of a nightmare to be honest.
“We walked along the main road to avoid the back streets, we certainly won’t be walking again, we’ll get a taxi.”
Tom added: “This was just random, even the police are shocked. It’s the mentality I can’t understand, I can’t believe people are like that in this day and age, we’re shocked about it now.
“It is well worth letting people know that these people are in the area, it could have been a 70-year-old who they attacked. Emma will be off work for a minimum of eight weeks and we’re fortunate that the work is quite flexible so she can do some from home.
“The people who have done it don’t care about that though, they’re just thinking about whatever the attack is for, whether it is for their next fix or something like that, they didn’t even say anything to us it was just wham-bam.”
Kate Dawson, Detective Constable of GMP’s Oldham borough, said: “This was quite frankly a brutal attack on two unsuspecting members of the public.
“Our investigation is in the early stages and there are a number of lines of enquiry which we are following but I would like to appeal to the public for their help.
“Although it was rather late at night when the incident took place, we are hopeful that somebody may have witnessed something that can assist with our enquiries.”
Anyone with information is urged to call police on 0161-856 9063 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800-555 111.
