'˜I was fighting for my life': Morecambe dog lead choking victim speaks out

A Heysham man has described the moment he was attacked by a man with a rock while out walking his dog on Morecambe Promenade.
Sandylands Promenade, where the attack unfolded. Picture: Google StreetviewSandylands Promenade, where the attack unfolded. Picture: Google Streetview
Sandylands Promenade, where the attack unfolded. Picture: Google Streetview

The 56-year-old, who did not wish to be named, said he was “fighting for his life” during the sustained attack which saw his assailant strangle him with his own dog’s lead while demanding his wallet.

He said he was physically sick following the ordeal.

He said: “I’d gone to Tesco to draw some cash out to pay for a new satellite dish.

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“I then called in at the off license, and got on the prom at The Battery to head home towards Heysham.

“I let the dog off the lead, and put it round my neck. Then I heard a voice behind me saying ‘give me your wallet’. He must have clocked me at the cash machine.

The man refused, and the would be robber “ran forward”.

“I lashed out, and he swung a piece of sandstone at me. I thought, ‘if that hits me I’m dead’. He approached me again and said ‘give me your wallet or I’ll hit you with the brick’, so I set off running.

“Unfortunately I tripped and he caught up with me, grabbed the lead around my neck and pulled it up.

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“I tried to relieve the pressure around my neck and he’s still threatening me with the brick, and pulling the lead as tight as he can. I was fighting for my life and I managed to get up and push him away, but he started coming again, so I shouted ‘help, help, help I’m being attacked’.”

At this point the attacker started walking away towards Morecambe, and another man walking on the prom who heard the cries for help came to the victim’s aid.

“I went home, where my partner called the police...my dog had run off, but the police picked her up at Tesco, and brought her back. I went into the kitchen and was physically sick.”

The man said he couldn’t sleep that night, and was sick again the next morning.

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He added: “All day at work the next day my stomach was in knots. Now I don’t go up that end at all, and wherever I walk I stop and look around every five paces. I just hope he’s seen it in the paper and thinks ‘they’re on to me’.”

The man, who did not wish to be named or photographed, said he no longer felt safe on Sandylands Promenade.

He added: “When he first approached me it was surreal, I thought ‘why is he asking me for my wallet?’

“I thought that I was going to have to protect myself and it just escalated.

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“The other thing that went through my mind is what if it was my granddaughter, or my partner, or my dad? Would he have used that brick?

“You think it’s a safe place to walk, I used to think I was safe but there are a lot of incidents that happen down there.

“He’s seen me draw the money out from the cash point, and I won’t be going back there again either. It was really frightening.”

The attack happened at 10.15pm on August 8. The attacker is described as white, early 20s, six foot tall, with a local accent, wearing a white hoody with a black stripe in the hood.

Anyone with information should call police on 101.

Read more {http://www.thevisitor.co.uk/news/local/thief-chokes-man-with-his-own-dog-lead-in-heysham-1-8082737|HERE)

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