Councillor's call after yob assault

Gary Powell made the call after an incident on June 3, in which a group of youth targeted him with water bombs.

He said: “There seemed to be no-one else around and I think I just a random victim who happened to be walking past when no one else was around. “

He added: “Initially I had no idea what was being thrown at me, but as the youths ran away down Penn Road, I realised that it was several water bombs - balloons filled with what I hope was water.”

And Mr Powell says that while the water bombs were not harmful, the random nature of the attack has left him shocked.

He said: “It was a shock for an unprovoked assault like this to happen, and it happened at a particularly unwelcome time, as I am mourning the recent loss of a close family member.

“These kinds of incidents, although perhaps perceived as fairly harmless pranks by the perpetrators, show no consideration for the great unknowns in other people’s lives, what their victims may already be dealing with when they are subjected to this contemptuous behaviour.”

And Mr Powell called for more CCTV to be installed on the bridge, and for anyone who knows the culprits to get in touch with the police.

He said: “What happened to me on Friday raises the specific and very practical 
issue of CCTV coverage on the Bourg Walk bridge. I will be liaising with my colleagues who are district councillors 
representing that ward to see if there is support for getting the district council to install more cameras along the bridge.”

If you have any information about the assault you can call police on 101.