Hunt for man over attack on dog walker in Maltby woods

Officers want to find the man pictured, who was photographed by the victim’s wife while he reportedly attacked her husband for “around seven minutes”.

The attack was apparently brought on by the victim — who has asked not to be named — trying to protect his pets from his attacker’s dog.

The couple were walking their two dogs through Maltby Woods at around 4pm last Thursday when the incident happened.

They saw a man approach with a dog lead in hand, so the alleged victim took his pets up another track.

“Suddenly a sandy Staffy was running towards us,” he said. “I said ‘Whoa, whoa’ and the dog stopped.

“Then this guy came around the corner and he was absolutely raging.

“He was shouting at me, ‘Who the f*** are you talking to’. I tried to explain that I was just trying to stop his dog.

“Then he ran up the hill and started throwing punches at me.”

The man with the Staffy is said to have knocked the victim to the ground and continued hitting him, before picking up an object and battering his head with it, as the shocked man’s wife struggled to control all three dogs and call the police.

She also managed to take the above picture, which she passed to officers when they arrived 40 minutes later.

The alleged victim, a former bouncer, added: “I never saw such violence in all my time as a doorman.

“I didn’t smell any drink or drugs on him — he was just raging.

“He hit me around the face for six or seven minutes.

“I thought he was going to kill me, but he just got off me when he decided he’d given me enough.

“I had bruising all over my face and a black eye. He didn’t split the skin, though I don’t know how.

“If he had attacked someone more vulnerable, he could have killed them. He needs to be found, quickly.”

A police spokesman confirmed that officers were seeking the man pictured in connection with an assault, but that no arrest has yet been made.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting incident 604 of August 29.