'I'm lucky to be alive': Traffic warden from Wolverhampton speaks out after brutal attack

A traffic warden from Wolverhampton has revealed he feels ‘lucky to be alive’ after a gang of yobs savagely beat him while he was on duty.

Charlie Weston was working in Birmingham’s Alum Rock when he was attacked minutes after approaching a car.

The 21-year-old had been working for just 10 minutes when he was knocked to the floor, kicked in the throat and stamped on the head on Friday.

WARNING: Video contains strong violence

Mr Weston said: “I didn’t notice people coming up behind me, I just turned and saw a man in a hoody with the cords tightened so I couldn’t see his face.

“I had almost booked someone further down the road for bad parking, but decided not to, and when this guy approached me he was asking ‘who do you think you are?’

“I went to say ‘excuse me’, and that’s when one of his friends kicked me from the side and threw me to the floor.

“I shouted ‘what do you think you’re playing at?’ but then they started taking kicks at me and continued to try and stamp on my head.

“I feel lucky with how I got out of the situation, I do genuinely feel lucky to be alive – I didn’t think I was going to get back up.

“I got hit by a car before, and that was life-threatening, but I feel like I was in more trouble here.”

Alarm

The gang, who assaulted the ex-security guard at about 5.10pm on Hartopp Road at its junction with College Road, also stole his bike as they fled.

Mr Weston said he managed to phone a colleague while he was being attacked and they raised the alarm.

Despite staying in hospital for almost four hours, he returned back to work at 10am on Saturday morning determined not to let his team down.

He said: “I think they were using the ticket as the excuse for what they did.

“But the bike wasn’t what they were after, they wanted to give me a kicking.

“I didn’t notice that they’d taken the bike, as I had blood splattered in my face.

“The bike was found a few roads away, where it was chucked in the scrap yard, but it’s been taken away for forensics.

“While they were stamping on me, they kept on trying to take my helmet off but I just kept my head covered.

"At the time, while the beatings were happening, I felt in pain – but then the adrenaline rushed to my body and all I wanted to do was defend myself.

“I was on the floor for a good few minutes after it happened.”

Fear

Shocking footage of the gang’s brutal attack, captured on a mobile phone, has since gone viral.

Mr Weston, who was left with discomfort in his lips and teeth and needs painkillers for a headache, said he is in constant fear of what will happen next.

He said: “It’s made me nervous about my job – I’m wearing sunglasses on jobs at the moment so that people don’t recognise me.

"I’ve also got a foot-walker’s uniform on and not a biker’s uniform, in hope that I’ll become less recognisable.

“A lot of people now know who I am, and what’s to stop them from doing the same again.

“My family don’t like me doing this job, and we do actually get a lot of grief – it’s a dangerous and stressful job as all traffic wardens are targets.

“In any real scenario, once you’re on the floor it’s near impossible to get back up, and I didn’t think I was going to.

"I’m quite a big build and I can usually defend myself, but there was too many against one and the first kick was to the throat.

“I just feel lucky to be alive.”

Detective Inspector Jim Church, who is leading the investigation, said: "We have had a fantastic response from members of the public. We are working through the information we have received as a priority and anticipate we will be knocking doors very shortly."

• Danyal Bashir, aged 19 and from Hartopp Road, has been charged with assault and bailed to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on October 16.

• A 20-year-old man arrested on suspicion of robbery on Saturday morning has been bailed by police.

• Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.