Leeds mum speaks out after Bramley dad is brutally attacked at random on doorstep

A 27-year-old man was brutally assaulted with baseball bats and a machete on the doorstep of the flat in Copper Beech Avenue while having a cigarette in the early hours of Saturday (February 13) morning.

He was left with a slash wound running the length of his back, a broken nose and collar bone, and a fractured eye from having a wine bottle smashed over his face as he fought off the group of five young men.

Shocking pictures of the blood-soaked living room were shared to social media.

The woman, who is the mother of the victim's four-year-old twins, said the perpetrators were waiting with weapons to attack a drug dealer but were unsuccessful and so instead randomly attacked the victim.

The children, who were all in the flat at the time, have been left "terrified and hysterical".

The woman, who now plans on leaving Leeds altogether, has been left shocked at what she said was the slow police response in the days after the attack, and said she had been told officers are overstretched dealing with lockdown breakers and domestic violence.

She said: "On this night [the youths] were obviously fired up - this drug dealer has turned up, seen them and turned around and they have not got what they wanted, and [the victim] has had his phone in his hand.

"He has finished his cig and turned his back to walk in the door and then one of them just came in the house."

The woman said another youth entered the one-floor flat and the pair tried to pull the victim outside to where the other youths were waiting - as her 12-year-old son desperately phoned the police.

She added: "It was all so fast. I have a 12-year-old who is quite a big lad but he is still a baby really, and they tried to get to him.

"There was no other option than for [the victim] to lock himself outside with them, and we just stood and watched through the window - it was just over and over and over again.

"I've never seen anything like it - it was just so prolonged and so unprovoked. We don't even know these people."

The 28-year-old added: "We have been more calm since we found it was random and not targeted. That's what was so worrying - who would want to do this and are they coming back?

"We thought the level of ferocity meant it had to be targeted because no one could have that much anger on the spot for a stranger."

The victim does not live at the flat but was there as he co-parents with the woman, who was feeling unwell at the time.

The woman added: "At some point they just ran and we opened the door and got him back in. They could have got back in as the key was on that side, but they obviously just wanted to attack [the victim]."

The woman said people in the area know the perpetrators, but thought they were too scared to come forward.

She called for police to recruit people who have lost their jobs during the pandemic to help them cope with crime across the city .

She said on Wednesday: "Everyone has the evidence there for the police but the police aren't coming to take it. I've called them maybe 20 times and so far we've seen no one.

"There's literally not enough police to make sure we're not getting stabbed on our doorsteps.

"You don't realise it until you need to use the police, and once you do it's too late."

The woman said the victim was on the mend and that she and her children were slowly recovering from the shock of the attack.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Our investigation is ongoing and we are supporting the victim by providing updates.

“Local officers have also been in the area, going from house to house and carrying out CCTV enquiries.

“We are aware that some people in the community have suggested they may know the identity of those responsible for this attack. We ask those people to pass that information to our officers, so further enquiries can be carried out.

“Information can be reported to the Leeds District Crime Team by calling 101 or via the contact options on the West Yorkshire Police website - quoting the crime reference number 13210075206.

“Information can also be reported anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers."

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