Shocking CCTV footage has been released of a teenage girl punched unconscious after she told her attacker she ‘wasn’t interested’.
Greater Manchester Police are hunting for the man who knocked 18-year-old Gabrielle Walsh to the ground outside Manchester’s Gay Village at 3:30 am, last Saturday (July 13).
The sickening attack left the teenager hospitalised with a serious eye injury.
Her friend Kyle McKeown was also hit by the same attacker as passers-by tended to Ms Walsh. The suspect then ‘fled the scene with two other men’, reports The Independent.
Speaking to The Independent, Greater Manchester Police’s senior investigating officer, Ben Lomax, says authorities are appealing to the public to help identify the attacker:
We have released this shocking footage in the hope it helps us identify those responsible for this appalling and cowardly attack,” said senior investigating officer Ben Lomax of Greater Manchester Police.
Clearly, there were numerous people who not only witnessed this attack but will have seen the three men hastily departing the scene shortly afterwards.
Lomax also acknowledged the city’s ‘good Samaritans that helped’ during the incident. The pair were helped by volunteers from a community safety partnership called the Village Angels, who gave Gabrielle some first aid and tried to get her an ambulance.
The constable said:
Several good Samaritans came to the aid of the victims shortly after this attack, for which we are grateful. Imagine if you or a member of your family was subjected to this kind of violence? You would quite rightly hope the perpetrators are caught.
Walsh, a college student, has spoken out about the violent incident while recovering.
Speaking to Manchester Evening News, Walsh, from Gorton, explained that she and McKeown were returning home and she had taken her shoes off. One of the three men told her they liked her feet, to which she simply responded ‘okay’.
She claims the trio followed her and Kyle regardless of the fact they weren’t engaging in conversation with them:
They kept walking behind trying to talk to me. Eventually, I turned around and said ‘I’m sorry, I’m not interested’. They kept harassing us. Then he hit me – he fully knocked me out.
The man who punched Gabrielle Walsh was described as white, about 5ft 8ins tall, and wearing a pink t-shirt. Officers said that the three men’s clothing was “quite distinctive”
Police are urging people to reach out with information as soon as possible:
We want to speak to the three men who are highlighted running from the area shortly after the attack in this footage. Do you recognise them or the clothes they are wearing? One in particular has a distinctive way of running.
Their clothes, too, are quite distinctive. Perhaps you saw three people like this earlier on during that evening, or later in the night. If you know something, please get in touch as soon as possible.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to story@unilad.com.
L’Oréal Blackett is a freelance journalist, broadcaster, and presenter with a lot of hair and a lot to say. A former digital magazine editor covering women’s issues and local news, she now works for a range of media publications including BBC Radio Manchester, Bumble and of course, UNILAD.