A man’s hand was “split open” as he tried to protect himself from a knife attack on his way home from the pub in Horley .
The 25-year-old was taking a shortcut across Horley Recreation Ground with two friends when he says they were intercepted by two youths who were “off their heads”.
He was left with a deep gash across his hand, which needed 10 stitches, after one of them lunged at him with a knife in the early hours of Saturday, June 9.
The victim, who asked not to be named, has been told by officers that no arrests have yet been made. He wants to warn people in the town about a terrifying experience he is still coming to terms with.
“We were about halfway across the park when these two lads appeared out of the bushes,” he said.
“They were being confrontational, for absolutely no reason. One of them had two bottles of Courvoisier [brandy]. He smashed them together, to weaponise them I guess, and he was threatening us.
“One of the lads said he had a Samurai sword in the park and was going to cut off my head with it.
“I would say they were sitting there waiting for an opportunity and us three, walking home, fell into their path. They didn’t try and mug us; it was purely about violence.”
(Image: Anonymous)
A confrontation had gone on for a couple of minutes when the victim says one of the youths lunged towards his face with a knife.
“He slashed it towards me but I swung my hand up, which took the impact,” he said. “It split my hand open. The knife missed a tendon by a millimetre, I am really lucky to still have the movement in it.
“I was in shock at the time, total disbelief at what was happening. The guy chased me with the knife towards the park exit but there were two guys walking through at the same time so I ran over to them and he ran off.
“I just feel that there is definitely a problem with knife crime and people in Horley need to know this is happening in their town. Something needs to be done.
“Life is full of ‘what ifs’, but what if he had knifed me in the face or hit an artery? It could have been so much worse.”
Surrey Police confirmed officers were called to Brighton Road at 1.32am on June 9 following a report of three men being threatened by two other men, one of whom had “a bladed weapon”.
A spokesman said: “Enquiries are ongoing and no arrests have been made.”
Reigate and Banstead’s neighbourhood inspector Angie Austin moved to reassure residents about the threat of knife crime.
“We take reports of knife crime extremely seriously as we know the devastating impact it can have on our communities,” she said.
“We have well-versed plans in place to tackle criminality that comes into our county, be it through drug-related violence or spontaneous violence on our streets. This is through our day-to-day work through proactive and targeted patrols, and other preventative activities in our neighbourhoods, working with housing associations, schools and other partner agencies to ensure that no harm comes to those we serve.
“A large part of reducing knife crime relies on information from the public about offenders, or those who carry knives. This means any information could be potentially life-saving. Our communities matter to us and play a vital role in helping us tackle these issues.”
Call 101, or 999 in an emergency, or report information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.