KNIFE-WIELDING yobs set upon a man as he walked home from a night out.

Sean O’Neill had been out at a pub with friends when he offered to walk a member of staff home before returning to his flat, in the Hythe area of Colchester.

But as he walked along Hawkins Road a group of at least three males and one girl threatened him and demanded his wallet and phone.

However, when Mr O’Neill refused to hand over his possessions, one of the males - thought to be aged in his late teens - pointed a knife at the 41-year-old.

When Mr O’Neill agreed to handover the items, the group set upon him, punching and kicking him in the face, torso and leg.

He suffered serious facial injuries and a broken kneecap and is now in a full-leg cast.

The robbery is one of a number of incidents which police are linking in the town after being called to four robberies or attempted robberies late on Friday and in the early hours of Saturday.

Mr O’Neill, who is originally from Tipperary, in Ireland, said: “I saw them in front of me all of a sudden and the first guy just said: ‘Give me your wallet’, three times.

“To be honest, I just told him something like: ‘You’re not having it,’ but then he pulled out this dagger-type thing.

“I thought the best thing to do then was to thrown the wallet on the ground and that might sort things out but a few of them started laying into me rightly.

“I couldn’t tell you how many of them were hitting me or what they were doing because I was in the foetal position by that stage - and a fat lot of good it did.”

He added: “The last thing I remember was one of the lads stamping on my head and I remember saying to myself as I looked up at him: ‘I’m never going to forget your face,’ and I won’t.

“To make it even worse, they didn’t even run off in the end, they just walked off cool as you like, as if nothing had happened.”

Injured Mr O’Neill was discovered by a taxi driver minutes later and an ambulance was called. He spent a night in A&E and was sent home on Saturday morning.

He added: “People have been saying to me: ‘How can you be so calm?’ But you’d face much worse on the hurling field in Ireland when you’d have a whole team of lads coming for you, especially if they’re rivals.

“I’m just glad they didn’t have a hurley stick with them. You’d prefer to have a knife waved at you.”