The man, believed to be in his 50s, is now in a critical condition following the assault
The Village Chippy in Stockbridge Village
A man is said to have been “attacked” as he waited for his food inside a chippy before taking his bag of food and leaving. At around 7.30pm on Friday, April 17, a man in his 50s was assaulted inside The Village Chippy, off Leach Croft in Stockbridge VIllage.
Initially, the incident was not reported to police before North West Ambulance Service informed Merseyside Police when the victim was taken to hospital with a serious head injury. He remains in a critical condition.
Speaking to the ECHO on Monday, April 20, manager of the chippy, Xiau Chen, explained how he heard a “bang” while in the back of the shop before rushing to the front where he saw a man with “blood all over his face”.
Mr Chen, along with his wife who works with him and a regular customer, tended to the victim, with him claiming to have not seen the attacker due to him fleeing the chippy.
He said: “It happened so fast. No one knows what was said for this to happen. We really want to know why it happened. It was a big shock for us all and I want to know why this happened in here. The man had a lot of blood on his face and we helped clean him up.
“When we cleaned him up he took his bag of food and left. I saw him speaking to some people outside.”
Mr Chen said the shop was forced to shut for two days over the weekend while police carried out investigative work.
In a statement issued by police following the incident, Detective Inspector Steven O’Neill described the assault as “shocking”.
Merseyside Police said today, Monday, April 20, a 25-year-old man from Stockbridge Village has been arrested on suspicion of section 18 wounding with intent.
He said: “This was a shocking assault that has left a man in hospital in a critical condition.
“An investigation is ongoing to find the person responsible and we are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.
“There were people inside the chippy at the time of the incident, so we are directly appealing to them to get in touch as a matter of urgency.
“We are determined to find the person responsible and an investigation is ongoing. Please come forward if you can assist our enquiries.”
Anyone with information should contact Merseyside Police social media desk via X or Facebook @MerPolCC. You can also report information via our website: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/ or by calling 101 quoting incident reference 26000305230.
Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their website here: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously