A ROYAL Navy veteran was viciously attacked by a gang of teenage thugs who stole his shopping and then rode off laughing. Patrick Murphy, 77, was left black-and-blue when he was knocked to the ground on his way back from Lidl in South Ham, Basingstoke. The grandfather-of-four now says he’s too afraid to venture out […]
A ROYAL Navy veteran was viciously attacked by a gang of teenage thugs who stole his shopping and then rode off laughing.
Patrick Murphy, 77, was left black-and-blue when he was knocked to the ground on his way back from Lidl in South Ham, Basingstoke.
The grandfather-of-four now says he’s too afraid to venture out of his house at night.
Mr Murphy, from Basingstoke, Hants, was attacked by the yobs on bikes when he was returning home from Lidl on Saturday night.
He said: “I heard a cyclist coming, so I went to move out of the way then suddenly it was ‘whack’ ‘whack’ ‘whack’ around the head.
“Next thing I was on the floor and my shopping had gone.”
He was left on the ground in pain while the thugs cycled off “laughing and shouting” with his shopping.
Without any onlookers to come to his aid, Mr Murphy picked himself up and made his way home with bruises all over his body.
The 77-year-old initially didn’t contact the police because he “didn’t want to cause a fuss,” but he was convinced by a friend two days later to report the ordeal.
He said: “I won’t be doing that again.
“It has made me think twice.
“I don’t go out in the dark normally but I definitely won’t be now.”
The former serviceman, who was in the Navy for 11 years, praised the police who arrived as soon as he reported the sickening crime and took him straight to hospital.
Since hearing of the attack, Patrick’s local community have been fundraising to pay for his stolen shopping – and so far they’ve raised £900.
But because the retired seaman doesn’t have social media, he was unaware of the kindhearted deed until a friend told him.
Mr Murphy, whose face is still heavily bruised, said: “I wasn’t expecting any of this at all.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone really.
“It has restored my faith in humanity.”
Neighbourhood inspector Richard Lane, from Hampshire Police, described the attack as an “appalling assault.”
He said: “Whilst this type of incident is extremely rare, this was an appalling assault on an elderly and vulnerable man.
“We would appeal to anyone who was in the vicinity between 8.15pm and 9pm on Saturday, September 14 and who may have seen a group of four males on bikes in the area.”
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