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PostPosted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:37 pm 
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A Shropshire family have told how they were attacked by a mob of up to 30 people in a Cypriot resort.

Simon Pierpoint, his wife Jeanette, and their five sons, from Bronygarth, near Oswestry, fled after being attacked in Paphos with knives and wooden planks.

They had flown out to the resort for a wedding and were on a night out on 17 June when they were set upon in what they insist was an unprovoked attack.

A Foreign Office spokesman said Cypriot police were investigating the attack.

He said consular staff on the island had offered support to the family after the incident.

'Totally unprovoked'

Mr Pierpoint and his four eldest sons were taken to hospital but discharged themselves two days later to attend the wedding.

He said the incident began when his 18-year-old son Oliver was attacked and he went to his aid.

Mr Pierpoint said he was struck with a bottle over his head and he and his eldest son Jason, 24, were stabbed and beaten as they tried to flee the mob.

Mr Pierpoint said he did not believe any member of the party had done anything to provoke the attack.

He said: "It was a totally unprovoked attack, it was obvious that it was staged, because these guys were in numbers and armed.

"That just doesn't happen spontaneously. It was, I would say, premeditated."

He added: "It was a ferocious attack. I actually put my arms in the air to say 'for God's sake, let us go' and one of them screamed at us, 'get out of town'.

Shocking sight

"The whole street was really filled with 20 to 30 guys all armed with various weapons and then a group from the right of me just attacked me again with a baseball bat and we realised it was time to get out of there or die."

Mrs Pierpoint said she was shocked by the sight.

She said: "Simon and our sons went running past, I could see Simon was severely injured, covered in blood and there was just a mob of men chasing after them, carrying all sorts.

"I just saw Simon's feet go from under him and there was a man standing over him with a very large piece of wood just repeatedly hitting him over the head.

"I've never in my life seen anything like it.

"As I went to his aid, my eldest son's girlfriend came screaming to me saying 'Jason's been stabbed'.

"It was just absolute bedlam, I didn't know where my other sons were, whether they were alive or dead.

"It was such a ferocious attack. It was every mother's worst nightmare really to see her husband and her sons running for their lives."

'Limping around'

Mrs Pierpoint said the family were struggling to cope one month on from the attack.

She said: "Simon's limping around, he's had to have an operation since he's been back.

"It's also the emotional scars really. I'm not sleeping well, it's just the horror really, I keep reliving it.

"My sons, I know they're mine, but they are really good, honest young men, nice people.

"They went out for a night out and they nearly paid for it with their lives and that shouldn't happen."

BBC NEWS


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