Innocent man attacked in Portsmouth pub by thug with knuckle duster is left with eye permanently disfigured

As reported, the incident at John Jacques pub in Fratton Road on April 18 was reportedly branded the ‘worst attack’ ever seen at the premises by the long-standing landlord. The victim was left needing two operations following gruesome injuries to his face after being repeatedly beaten in the face with a knuckle duster – which even left an imprint on his forehead.

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Shirley Moore, 61, said matters erupted when her boyfriend Catalin, 36, and herself were ‘insulted’ by a man ‘looking for trouble’. Catalin – a Romanian national – was then subjected to menacing behaviour by the unknown assailant before a fight kicked off.

‘There was scuffling on the floor…the manager was trying to separate them. The man had a knuckle duster and was laying into Catalin. The next thing I saw he was pouring with blood,’ Shirley previously said.

‘He was hitting him repeatedly with a knuckle duster. It was a totally unprovoked attack. Catalin was taken to hospital with X-rays showing he had a fractured eye socket. His eye tear duct was ripped and he was left with knuckle duster prints on the top of his head.

‘Catalin has needed two operations. The first one was to stitch up the bottom of his eye where the tear duct was ripped and the second was to have bone built up under his eye so it would not sink.’

Following the brutal attack, which took place in full view inside the busy pub just after 9pm, the attacker fled the scene. Police were called to the pub and went to hospital with the victim but Shirley said they have been left disappointed by the force’s ‘slow’ response since then.

When contacted by The News last month, the force said they were investigating and were yet to arrest anyone – which remains the case. ‘No arrests. The incident is still under investigation,’ a police spokesman said.

With no-one yet arrested Shirley has now admitted she is ‘concerned’ the perpetrator could get away with it as Catalin faces up to having a permanent reminder of the attack. ‘We feel like it is a long time not to have arrested the bloke,’ she said. ‘This guy can’t get away with it.’

Speaking of Catalin’s injuries, she said in an update: ‘It’s horrible, his eye has been disfigured and will never be the same. It is permanently swollen from where he’s had a plate put in.

‘Since the article everyone has been really nice and shown a lot of concern and asked Catalin if he needs anything. At least he’s back at work now.’

Shirley previously said the attacker ‘ran off’ with staff horrified at the assault. ‘It was horrible. Catalin never did anything wrong. The way the man was walking around the pub he was looking for trouble. The pub manager said it was the worst attack he had ever seen in all his years at the pub,’ she said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or report online quoting reference 44230109047.

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