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Royal Navy Veteran Was Attacked By Youths As He Left Lidl

Royal Navy Veteran Was Attacked By Youths As He Left Lidl

The group of thugs laughed as they made off with his shopping

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

A Royal Navy veteran was beaten and mugged by a gang of youths who nicked his shopping and jumped on their bikes, laughing at him as they rode off.

Patrick Murphy was on his way home after shopping at a Lidl in Basingstoke when he was viciously attacked by the group of teenagers.

The 77-year-old says he was left shaken by the harrowing ordeal and is now too scared to leave his house at night.

Looking back at the terrifying moment, the elderly ex-serviceman 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."

Solent News

The callous thugs left the granddad-of-four on the ground, 'laughing and shouting' as they made off with his shopping.

Sadly there were no witnesses to the attack so Mr Murphy had to get himself up off the ground and make his way home.

Despite being battered and bruised, he didn't contact the police at the time because he 'didn't want to cause a fuss'. He only reported the incident a couple of days later after a friend convinced him to.

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."

Mr Murphy was in the Navy for 11 years and has praised the police who raced around to his house after he reported the incident and took him to hospital.

And while he is still scarred by the brutal crime, the pensioner's local community started have been fundraising to pay for his stolen shopping. So far they have managed to make £900 in donations.

Solent News

But as he doesn't have any kind of social media account, Mr Murphy was totally oblivious to it all.

He 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, said he was disgusted by the attack.

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."

Featured Image Credit: Solent News

Topics: UK News, lidl, Assault, Interesting, crime