A man who suffered a double fracture to his eye socket and a fractured cheekbone after he tried to intervene in a late night altercation has offered a large cash reward to help find his attacker.
Derry Hayward, 56, will fork out £2,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the conviction of the man who punched him in the face, after he attempted to break up a violent row between his attacker and a woman. And Mr Hayward, who lives off Cliddesden Road, said he would donate another £500 to charity if the thug was brought to justice.
Derry, who has waived his anonymity in a bid to find his attacker, had been out in Basingstoke with his wife Angela and another couple and was walking home from the town centre in the early hours of July 31 when the attack happened. The group heard a row between a man and a woman in an underpass near Hackwood Road, at the junction with New Road.
When he approached the fighting pair to find out if the woman was ok, the man ran up to him and drove his fist into his face leaving him with serious injuries that needed specialist treatment at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, in Guildford. The man and the woman then ran off in the direction of the War Memorial Park.
Derry told the Observer: "I saw this bloke pushing this girl around and she was crying. It was a spur of the moment thing, and all of a sudden I found myself involved. We just shouted down 'are you ok' and then he started giving us a load of abuse.
"I decided to challenge him and make sure she was alright. I had the streetlight in my eyes and the next thing I know I'm being smashed in the face. I was stunned and in a little bit of shock."
Doctors have told Derry the attack has left the bones in the left side of his face 70 per cent weaker. Having lived in Basingstoke for 18 years without incident, he says he is now cautious about going into the town centre in the evening.
"It was a bizarre situation because he turned the tables on us and we were the baddies," said Derry. "I didn't know what damage he had done. They had to go up inside my mouth and push my cheek back into place. If it happened again I wouldn't get involved, I would just call the police. He was just a frustrated, angry person. I would encourage him to turn himself in.
"I could definitely identify him again in a line up. I want him to be caught. It is the principle of the thing."
The man is described as in his late 20s or early 30s with short, dark hair, dark eyes, around 5ft 10in tall and of stocky build. He was wearing a tight, black, long sleeved ribbed top with a round neck, dark jeans and dark pointed shoes and had a local accent.
Police also want to speak to the woman who witnessed the attack. She is described as white, around 23-years-old with short dark hair, a slim build and was wearing a light floral pattern Summer dress with red and blue on it, high heels and carrying a hand bag.
Anyone with any information should contact DC Solomon Koranteng at Basingstoke CID on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
