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Students assaulted in brutal beatings

Fears about student safety have been raised this week following three violent assaults in central Oxford.

These latest attacks follow two stabbings Cowley last week.
Third year student Laurence Osborn was robbed by a group of five men on Parks Road, opposite Keble college, leaving him with severe head injuries.

“I was walking into the centre of town for a friend’s birthday when I saw a group of guys on bikes and a moped coming towards me on the pavement rather than the road. I didn’t think for a moment that I was a target because I was so close to town.”

The group pushed Osborn against a wall and threatened physical violence unless he handed over his phone. Osborn complied but the attackers decided the phone wasn’t valuable enough to steal and broke it instead.

After punching him, the group began to move away. However, when Osborn stayed to attempt to retrieve his glasses from the ground, the attackers threw a bottle at him and forced Osborn to run in the direction of The King’s Arms.

Despite his injuries, Osborn commented, “It’s more psychologically wounding than physically wounding. I’ve been having flashbacks, but I’m alright. I’m not going to let it affect the academic year and my tutors have been supportive.”

The attack left Osborn with a broken nose and fractured cheek. He was admitted to A&E because of blood clots and worries that the compound breakage of bone as well as cartilage in the nose was consistent with skull fracture.

Although the attack occurred at nine o’clock at night, no passers-by witnessed the incident, and Osborn’s attackers made off with his passport, bank cards and keys. The student was forced to remove any valuables from his college room and sleep elsewhere until the lock was changed.

A second student, Ian Maconnachie, was assaulted on his way home from Park End last Wednesday. The attack took place outside O’Neill’s pub on New Inn Hall Street at around 3am.

“My memory of the incident is a bit hazy, but I remember that there were two people I didn’t know having an argument and it got heated. I attempted to intervene and for my trouble I was punched so hard it knocked me out.

“I’ve never been hit before and I was in A&E for six hours that night. I’m quite light-hearted about the whole thing but it was so avoidable.”

The police are still investigating both incidents but there have been no arrests made so far. The rapid spate of attacks since the beginning of term has raised concerns that students are being deliberately targeted.

Osborn agreed that the attack felt like more than a straightforward mugging. He said, “Once they took my things they argued about what they were going to do with me. They decided to hit me anyway even though they’d already robbed me.
“I live in a very rough area of London, and I’ve been mugged before, but I’ve never had an experience as horrible as that. It didn’t seem like they needed to steal. It just seemed like they wanted to hurt me. When I was assaulted before it was a means to an end – they hit me first and then took my wallet. I just got the impression that they hated me.”

A further incident was reported to police on the same evening that Osborn was attacked. A 23-year-old student was admitted to hospital after being hit with a glass bottle at the corner of South Parks Road and St Cross Road. The man was walking with friends when confronted by a larger group of people at around 10.45pm.
The incident is also being treated as grievous bodily harm but no-one has been arrested.

Both Osborn and Maconnachie have praised police assistance. Maconnachie commented, “When I came around the police were already there and somebody had called an ambulance for me.”
Osborn said, “The police have been very helpful. They explained that I’ll be entitled to compensation because it was a case of grievous bodily harm.”

Tom Perry, OUSU Welfare warned that students must not underestimate the dangers of walking alone late at night. He commented, “While Oxford may seem like a quaint place to live, it is a city, and students should be careful.”

Last week, an Oxford Brookes student was stabbed outside the O2 Academy on Cowley Road. A man has now been arrested for the attack.

Benjamin Hepburn, 22, appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court last week and will appear at Oxford Crown Court later today. He has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

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