Dad launches desperate appeal to find attackers who left son for dead in brutal Doncaster town centre assault

Dave said his 21-year-old son Brad was walking between Flares bar and Lazarus Court at around 12.35am on Friday when a man jumped out and attacked him with a weapon and left him unconscious.

Brad, a mental health worker, has been left needing urgent surgery on his left eye as the bone is pushing against muscle.

Dave said: “Brad had been to a friend’s funeral in the afternoon so a lot of them had gone out to have a few drinks.

“When he was in Flares, he saw a man spike two or three girls’ drinks and one of the girls was an old school friends of his so he went and took the drink off her.

“A guy came over and asked him what he was doing and there was a bit of a debate in the bar but they didn’t think any more about it.”

Dave said Brad was then attacked after leaving Flares, while he was walking towards Lazarus Court.

He added: “They were going from one bar to another and as he was going from town to Lazarus Court, Brad went on his own at this stage.

“As he was walking up there, a man has jumped out and smacked him in the face with a weapon and knocked him unconscious.

“An ambulance was called and he lost a considerable amount of blood. He was taken to A&E and suffered an open fracture of his eye and the bone is sticking into the muscle of his eye.”

Brad was released from Doncaster Royal Infimary on Saturday and is awaiting a date for surgery on his eye at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield.

Dave added: “The hospital said it could have killed him because they hit him right on the temple. I just want to find those who did it.”

Dave also thanked the ‘amazing’ staff at DRI and the paramedics who attended the incident.

South Yorkshire Police said the suspect pulled up on Hallgate, in a black Ford and got out of the car, carrying a basball bat.

The force believes he then walked in to Lazarus Court and hit Brad over the head, causing a deep wound to his head and swelling around his eye.

Anyone with any information should call South Yorkshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111, quoting incident number 28 of August 30.