POLICE have appealed for witnesses to two violent assaults in the Colchester area in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Elliot Furniss

POLICE have appealed for witnesses to two violent assaults in the Colchester area in the early hours of Saturday morning.

In the first incident, a man was left with serious head injuries when he was attacked after being chased by a group of men.

The assault happened at about 2am in Goring Road, Colchester, when the victim and a friend were pursued and set upon.

The victim, a 20-year-old local man, was taken to Colchester General Hospital but later transferred to Queen's Hospital in Romford, which specialises in head injuries.

Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Mark Merry said it was a “very serious incident” which appeared to have been motiveless.

He said: “I would urge anyone with information to come forward as this kind of violence cannot be tolerated.”

The road was closed for several hours while officers examined the scene.

The second attack took place at about 2.30am in London Road, Marks Tey. A 22-year-old man was walking with a friend when they were approached by a group of three people coming from the opposite direction.

One of the group, made up of two men and a woman, then punched the man in the face, fracturing his cheekbone.

The victim was taken to a Colchester hospital but will now have to undergo surgery at Ipswich Hospital.

Detective Constable Tim Harris, investigating the attack, said: “We are treating this assault very seriously.

“It is totally motiveless and unprovoked and we would like to hear from anyone who has any information about the assault or recognises members of the group from the descriptions given.”

The first man, who threw the punch, was described as being white, aged between 19 and 20, about 5ft 11ins tall and was clean shaven.

He had cropped dark hair with spots of highlights and wore navy or black jogging trousers and a black polo shirt with thin horizontal yellow stripes on it.

The second man was also described as white, aged 20 to 22, about 5ft 10ins tall and of a stocky build. He had short dark hair, was clean shaven and wore a black baseball cap, green sweatshirt and blue jeans.

The third member of the group was a slim white woman aged between 18 and 20 with shoulder-length dyed blonde hair and wearing blue jeans and a black hooded jumper.

The group made off towards the Escape nightclub.

Anyone with details about either assault can contact officers on 0300 3334444.