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Hospitalised after brutal attack

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“Because he was walking with the earphones on, he didn’t even realise what was happening when they attacked him.”

A 21-YEAR-old man is being monitored in the neuro-surgery division of the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital in Kimberley after he was attacked by a group of nine people in Monument Heights in the early hours of Monday morning.

Veronica Hatting said that her son, Duncan-Ross Thomas, was walking home from a friend’s house in Southridge at 4am on Monday morning, when he was attacked by the group on the corner of Shadrack and McDougall streets.

The group are believed to be from Greenpoint.

“Duncan was walking with his earphones on when he was attacked, presumably for his cellphone,” Hatting said.

She added that he was hit repeatedly on the head with bricks and was also slashed with a panga close to his ear.

“Because he was walking with the earphones on, he didn’t even realise what was happening when they attacked him.”

She added that six of the group, who she said were in their twenties and thirties, ran away when they realised that they were not going to get the phone, but the other three, “especially a short one who was wearing an orange T-shirt”, just kept on hitting him.

Thomas, who lives with his father in Hugo Street, managed to escape and alerted his father.

“A resident in Shackelton, who must have heard Duncan screaming for help, called the neighbourhood watch and four vehicles were sent out. However, by the time they got there, everyone had run away.

“Other people in Southridge also said they heard him screaming and calling for help. It is so sad that no one came out and helped him.”

She said that after consulting a medical practitioner, her son was rushed to the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital, where he underwent a CT scan and X-rays.

“Several of his ribs are fractured while a number of the small bones in his face, including his nose and his sinuses, are also fractured.”

He also has a wound on his head from the panga, which fractured his skull and penetrated the membrane surrounding his brain.

“At the moment, there is minimal bleeding on the brain but he is being closely monitored to ensure that this does not become a problem.

“Fortunately he is able to speak and we have opened a case with the police.”

She urged anyone who might have seen what happened to contact the police.

“I also want to warn members of the public, who might see this as a relatively safe suburb, to be on the alert and not to take chances.”

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