[attach id=328907 size="medium"]Jordan Muscat, 19, after he was assaulted in Paceville.[/attach]
A night of clubbing and entertainment in Paceville turned into a nightmare for a teenager who ended up in hospital with a brain haemorrhage after being attacked outside a nightclub.
At around 11pm on Thursday, Jordan Muscat was out clubbing with a friend. It was not usual for him to go out during the week but it was the eve of a public holiday.
After emerging from the bathroom of a nightclub, his friend informed him that a Libyan man had struck him on the head.
Speaking weakly from his hospital bed, recovering from the haemorrhage and internal swelling, the 19-year-old recalled he approached the man to see what was going on.
“I don’t remember what I told him but I didn’t speak to him aggressively. But he shoved me and we had an altercation when the club’s bouncer escorted us both out of the club.”
Wanting to let matters drop, Mr Muscat and his friend made their way up St George’s Road.
A few moments later, the man sped up the street and balled his fist, aiming to punch Mr Muscat.
He ducked, evading the blow by inches, which only served to anger his aggressor. The man grabbed the slight teenager by the chest and flung him against a metal bollard, splitting part of his forehead open and knocking him out cold.
As the blood gushed out, the aggressor ran off. Mr Muscat’s friend phoned the emergency services and police went on site.
“The next thing I knew, I was in hospital having my forehead stitched,” Mr Muscat said.
The young man’s father filed a police report, but was told the club’s CCTV footage would not be available until tomorrow.
“What angers me most is that my life will have to stop for a while.
“I can’t return to my full-time job for three weeks, I can’t continue my studying, I can’t go to the gym and I can’t go anywhere unaccompanied for the time being. I want him to be brought to justice and I want compensation for my injuries,” the teenager said.
Mr Muscat stressed the need for a greater police presence in the streets of Paceville.
“There are police but not enough to deal with the volume of crowds who gather in Paceville.
“The clubs chuck out troublemakers into the streets as once outside their clubs, they’re not their problem anymore.”
A member of one of the nightclubs’ security staff, who witnessed the incident and administered first aid to the young man, described the scene as “shocking”.
“I have children of Jordan’s age so I was shocked to see him lying in a pool of blood with that horrible head wound – you could see his skull showing through,” he told this newspaper, preferring to go unnamed.
“Unfortunately, it’s not the first such incident. Paceville has become a very dangerous place.
“I’m tired of seeing drunken brawls and men groping women. It’s become uncontrollable. The police are doing their best but there needs to be more enforcement.”
When contacted, the police said they were aware of the injuries and an investigation was underway.