There are fears that an Oxford postgraduate may have suffered permanent brain damage after he was bludgeoned over the head during a brutal robbery.
Kentaro Ikeda, a student at St Edmund’s Hall, was riding along a cycle path in the early hours of the morning when he was suddenly set-upon and savagely beaten.
Shocked passers-by later found the 26-year-old victim lying unconscious on the deserted track in a pool of his own blood.
They immediately dialled 999 and frantically tried to revive the unconcious student whilst paramedics raced to the scene.
He was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital and put into intensive care after doctors discovered that he had suffered a severely fractured skull.
With the Japanese postgraduate recovering in hospital, detectives launched a major hunt to track down those reponsible for the mugging.
The scene of the horrific attack, between Ferry Road and the University Parks, Marston, was cordoned off by police whilst forensic investigators combed the area for clues. It was not long before officers had recovered Kentaro’s rucksack in a nearby road and the weapon believed to have been used to batter him over the head.
Days later, officers from Thames Valley Police arrested two 18-year-olds suspected of carrying out the crime.
Teenagers Craig Knowles and Thomas Mack, both from Marston, Oxford, were later charged with robbery and carrying out grievous bodily harm with intent.
They both appeared to answer the charges at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on August 4th. They were remanded in custody until another hearing they were due to attend at Oxford Crown Court next Monday.
Meanwhile Kentaro has recovered sufficiently enough to return to Japan, after spending a month in John Radcliffe Hospital.
The student’s mother arrived from Japan shortly after the incident. It is understood that she was arriving in Oxford on a planned trip, and was only told that her son was in a critical condition in hospital when she landed.
Kentaro has lived in Oxford since November last year, when he began studying for his Masters degree in Educational Studies at St Edmund ‘s Hall.
He is said to have been just weeks away from finishing his thesis when he was brutally beaten.
Fellow postgraduates at St Edmund’s Hall said that they had been astonished and horrified on hearing news of the horrendous attack.
One stunned student, Johannes Kaminski, said that he felt completely helpless, having only heard about the awful attack on his freind whilst he was away in Vienna.
He revealed that Kentaro may have been partly paralyzed following his traumatic experience.
“Rumour has it that he can only move the right side of his body,” he said.
“He can only communicate by writing at the moment, but he can distinguish Japanese from English,” he added, implying that Kentaro’s brain damage may not be as severe as previously feared.
Johannes added that the appalling assault had brought safety for students around town into sharp focus for many of his fellow students at St Edmund’s Hall.
“We try not to scare the graduate freshers but make them aware of the dangers in Oxford.”
ChernEin Oon, another friend of Kentaro’s, said that he would “need some time to really really recover” following the incident in the early hours of July 31st.
Fellow postgraduate Evan Innis added that he simply could not comprehend what had happened to his friend.
“Kentaro loved to play around and is a very very friendly person. He is a real fun-loving guy. This attack is just unfathomable.”
“This has obviously caused a lot of shock in the MCR. It was a rather unpleasant way to find out he was back in Oxford.
A spokesperson for the Thames Valley Polce said, “Kentaro is back in Japan but he has lost the power of movement in his left side, although he is now conscious.”
