‘Mystery Santa’ left with swollen eye after he was attacked in Victoria Quarter whilst giving out free chocolate bars to children in Leeds city centre

Garry, who lives in Horsforth and did not want to give his surname, was out in Leeds giving away 500 bars of chocolate to children to spread festive cheer. He is known as ‘Mystery Santa’ and rides around the city on an automatic trike playing Christmas music and carrying the chocolate bars in a sack.

His motivation came from wanting to make children smile and also amid the current cost of living crisis, he wants to cheer people up who may be struggling. He couldn’t believe what happened that afternoon on Saturday, December 10.

“I was shocked, I was stunned. I was absolutely gutted for four hours and I thought, well, do you know what? I’ve got 500 bars of chocolate and I just carried on until half past seven that night. I thought, if I go home now, they’d win, so I just carried on and that was it,” Garry said.

On the Saturday afternoon, he pulled up at the side of Victoria Quarter where he continued giving away chocolates and taking pictures with families. A group of four men aged between 25 and 30 came over and one of them asked for a bar of chocolate.

Garry replied that they are only for the children, so the man walked away. But his friends came back and one of them confronted Garry and said: “I’m going to knock you out”.

The man pulled a bottle of orange juice out of his pocket and threw it into Garry’s eye; the top came off and the orange juice spilled all over his beard, wig and costume. Garry’s eye started to swell and turned red.

“Someone’s going round giving kids chocolates and spreading the Christmas spirit and he comes and does that? It’s unbelievable. It could have been a glass bottle and it could have knocked my eye out,” he said.

A security guard approached him asking if he was ok and told him that the attackers had been caught on CCTV footage.

West Yorkshire Police said: “Police received a report at 12.14pm on Saturday, December 10, that a man had been assaulted in the Victoria Quarter in Leeds. It was reported that another male had thrown a bottle at the victim, causing a facial injury.

“Enquiries have been made, including reviewing CCTV opportunities, and an image of a man that the police would like to identify to speak to has been circulated on the Caught on Camera section of the West Yorkshire Police website.

“If anyone witnessed any part of this incident or has information about the man pictured then they are asked to make contact using 101 Live Chat or by calling 101, quoting 13220678233.”

Two witnesses came forward at the time of the incident and said that they had caught the attacker on camera including the assault and a full close up picture of him.

When asked if he will continue to give away chocolates as Mystery Santa, Garry said: “100 per cent. Of course I will. He’s not going to stop me doing that. No way.”