KEBAB House Horror :: Wessex Scene Online

KEBAB House Horror

Kebab'ed: A scaring walk home

21st March 2002
Nigel Massen

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Oct 02 - CRIME CAPERS- In and Around the Portswood Ghetto
Mar 02 - Halls of residence security problems - do the university actually care??
Mar 02 - CAMPUS CRIME CAPERS
May 02 - Students go down for Ł8
Jan 08 - Bike Thefts Increase

More by Nigel Massen

Nov 02 - Bali Terror
Oct 02 - CRIME CAPERS- In and Around the Portswood Ghetto
Sep 02 - Fan-tastic
May 02 - Right Wing Europe?

A walk home from Poundstretcher turned into a nightmare for a group of Southampton University students after they were attacked in Portswood on the 22nd of February. A group of ten students were making their way back from the Students‘ Union when two of the group decided to bare their arses to staff cleaning up in a kebab shop in the Portswood area.

The students allege that two members of staff unlocked the door and one came outside while the other remained in the doorway. After trying to placate the kebab shop staff there was some shouting between the students and man outside the shop, especially when he started to threaten them with a knife sharpener, "this was when we really shit ourselves," says Computer Engineering student Oliver Pearmain. As the situation started to get out of control Oliver pulled his friend John Goldie away from the confrontation. John, celebrating his 21st birthday, had his 16 year old brother Adam visiting. Oliver then went to pull Adam away from the argument as well but, in doing so, was hit over the head with the knife sharpener. Dazed he sat on the kerb, his head bleeding heavily as he rang the police.

Some confusion follows; John clearly remembers seeing his brother being approached by the man with the knife sharpener, his brother was head-butted and fell to the floor and viciously kicked in the face. The knife sharpener was then swung at John who sustained an injury to his hand whilst trying to protect his head from the blow. The man from the kebab shop then went back inside and locked the door. Minutes later three police cars and a police van were on the scene following a total of four 999 calls from Oliver, the staff in the shop and from two other passer-bys. Two members of staff from the kebab shop were arrested, one was released almost immediately, the other, the more active of the two, was kept overnight before being released. Charges have yet to be brought against this man although investigations are underway. The three injured students were taken to Southampton General Hospital by Ambulance where Oliver required six stitches to his head and John had x-rays of his hand taken. Adam will need long term dental treatment to correct the damage done to his four front teeth.

Although not an entirely unprovoked attack, this incident is shocking in its brutality, illustrating how out of control a bit of harmless ‘cheek’ can get. The whole group of students were drunk, Adam had been ejected from Poundstretcher for his behaviour earlier that night. They moonied, then argued, this only escalated the situation. At any point in the confrontation they could have walked away, they chose not to and paid for it. Whilst some may feel that, to a certain extent, they got what they deserved, this went way too far. Trading blows may be violent enough, getting hit over the head with a metal bar is a different game entirely.