Man kicked on floor in gang attack outside pub on night out to celebrate beating cancer

A man out in town celebrating the news that he had beaten cancer was punched to the floor and repeatedly kicked by a group of thugs.
Paul Blake, 56, was beaten by thugs after leaving the Bow Legged With Brass pub in Halifax.Paul Blake, 56, was beaten by thugs after leaving the Bow Legged With Brass pub in Halifax.
Paul Blake, 56, was beaten by thugs after leaving the Bow Legged With Brass pub in Halifax.

Builder Paul Blake, who was also celebrating his 56th birthday with his wife and four friends, was thrown to the ground and beaten after leaving the Bow Legged With Brass pub on George Street shortly after 9pm.

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He had earlier confronted a man for urinating in the pub’s beer garden and laughing whilst ‘waving his genitals’ at his wife and female friend. It is not known whether the man was one of the attackers.

Paul suffered head and facial injuries on a night that started in celebratory circumstances after he had been given the all-clear from skin cancer earlier in the week.

His shocked wife Wendy, 50, witnessed the attack and said “her blood ran cold” as one suspect took a run-up to kick her husband in the ribs.

She said: “It was just awful. They came out of nowhere and the way they were kicking him, if they had got him in the head, they would’ve killed him, I’m sure of that."

The attack took place on George Street, Halifax.

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Mr Blake suffered head and facials injuries during the attack.

“We were barely out of the pub when a man struck Paul on the back of the head. He fell down the steps and bust his knee.

“He ended up on the kerb side outside the bus stop and they just went on and on. I just felt sick.

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“You get the news that he’s on the mend from cancer and you feel that everything is finally going OK - then this happens.”

Management at Bow Legged With Brass declined to comment on the incident.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Police are investigating a reported assault on a man on George Street, Halifax, at around 9pm on Saturday night.

“The victim reported being assaulted by a number of suspects and required hospital treatment for head and facial injuries. Enquiries are ongoing.”