Sailor dies after attack by gang of teenagers >From The Times October 22, 2007
Fiona Hamilton A sailor died when he was assaulted by a gang of teenagers in an unprovoked attack on Saturday night, police said yesterday. Three teenagers - a 14-year-old boy and two 17-year-olds - have been arrested on suspicion of murder, and police were seeking several more youths for questioning yesterday in relation to the brawl. A passer-by broke up the mêlée but a 32-year-old man from Goa, in India, died soon afterwards. Hampshire police said that the sailor had left the Falcon Hotel in Fawley when he and a 29-year-old colleague were approached by a gang of up to 20 teenagers. An altercation took place and the group moved along the street before the pair were attacked. Although a member of the public intervened and took the injured sailor back to the gate of the nearby dock, where his ship was moored, he collapsed and died. A postmortem examination was being conducted yesterday. The men were working on the cargo ship Garonne, which docked at Fawley on Friday, and were returning to their vessel between 9pm and 10pm when the incident occurred. A police spokeswoman said: The gang of youths aged between 13 and 18 numbered about 20 and there was an altercation between them and the men after they left the Falcon Hotel after a night out. At the moment it looks like a completely unprovoked attack. We do not think all the youths took part in the altercation but it is very early in the investigation. The dead mans colleague suffered minor injuries. Detectives are reviewing closed-circuit television footage from the area and appealed for witnesses to come forward. Detective Superintendent Alan Betts, who is leading the investigation, said: If you were part of the group who were involved in the altercation, I would urge you to come forward and speak to the police. Also at the weekend, a 13-year-old boy became the latest teenage victim of gun crime when he was shot in Manchester on Saturday night. The boy, who had been at a party in the Moss Side area of the city, was in a stable condition in hospital last night after being shot in the shoulder at about 11.20pm. Three teenagers have recently been shot dead in Manchester. In April Kasha Peniston, then 16, shot his sister Kamilah, 12, in the head with a handgun that his mother kept in their home in Gorton. Kally Gilligan, 15, was shot dead by her jilted boyfriend Josh Thompson, 18, in Salford in June last year, and in September last year Jessie James, 15, was shot dead as he cycled through a park in Moss Side. On September 25 two youngsters, 12 and 15, were shot in Fallowfield and on October 8 two gangs of youths fought a gun battle in Moss Side. One resident who held the party attended by the shot 13-year-old boy said that the incident was a mystery. I gave him some food and then I dont know what happened, she said. None of us knows what happened because we were all inside. Greater Manchester Police said that the teenagers injuries were not life-threatening and that they would be conducting extra patrols in the area. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2709010.ece Sanny de Quepem <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
