British tourist stabbed in Thailand trying to save girlfriend from biker gang
Ao Nang, Thailand. Rex
A British tourist was stabbed by a gang of youths as he tried to save his girlfriend from a pack sex attack while on holiday in Thailand.
The Daily Mail reports that Jack Cole and April Clifton, both 21 from Bath, went for a romantic stroll towards a boat pier in idyllic Ao Nang, southern Thailand, when a motorcycle gang pounced from the shadows nearby.
April was grabbed by the laughing thugs, who clawed at her clothes, before Jack jumped to her defence.
The armed gang turned on him, stabbing his face and body before they fled, leaving Jack to die in a pool of blood.
Luckily a passing British tourist heard his cries for help and called paramedics.
'It was a calculated attack,' Jack told the Daily Mail from Bangkok-Phuket hospital on Friday.
'They drove past us several times checking us out. We thought they had gone but they came out of the shadows and attacked April.'
'They laughed as they grabbed April as a mob. There were seven of them. Four men and three girls. I knocked the guy down who had grabbed April and then they crowded around me and I thought they were punching me.
'But it seems every punch was a stab. They were shouting in English 'Come on. Come on'. I saw that April had managed to run away to the safety of a local Dive Shop and I fell to the ground as the group ran away laughing.
'I managed to stagger up to a foreigner whom I begged for help and people came to staunch the flow of blood.
'There was no reason for the attack. We had never seen these people before. They appeared to be driving in a gang looking for foreign victims. They made no attempt to take my wallet. They were just interested in April.'
The unnamed Briton, who helped Jack and runs the dive shop, posted about the incident on an expat forum in Thailand.
He wrote: 'In Ao Nang. I fear that another tourist death is imminent. Gangs of teenage kids, armed with knifes and machetes roam the roads like something out of a Hollywood horror movie. WTF is wrong with this place!'
'I accompanied them to the Krabi hospital where I witnessed the same old story. You pay or no treatment.
'The resort where they were staying kindly brought his and hers passports, money and the lifesaving Insurance,' he added.
Three of the seven suspects were caught and are being held by Krabi Provincial Police. The other four are being sought in the Nong Talay area of Krabi.
Jack is being treated for stab wounds to his face, arms, chest and legs.
The pair had been staying at the luxury Centara Grand Beach Resort Hotel and were walking towards the Nopprarat Thara pier to catch a speedboat to their resort in neighbouring Plai Plong Bay.
According to the Daily Mail, April's father has flown out to be with his daughter, who is apparently too scared to go out alone.
The British Embassy confirmed it is providing consular assistance through its Phuket office.
Several attacks on tourists have taken place in Ao Nang this year.
A 19-year-old Dutch model was raped three months ago in the area and after being arrested the alleged attacker was immediately given bail.
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