Police accused of ignoring 999 call as man is kicked and stamped on in attack in Wisbech St Mary – but officers blame poor phone signal

Police have been accused of ignoring a 999 call to an incident in which a man was punched to the ground, stamped on and kicked.

Alastair Else suffered nasty bruising and swollen eyes in the attack that also left him with the imprint of one of his assailant's shoes on his cheek.

However, despite a witness calling 999 while Alastair was under attack outside his brother-in-law's property in Wisbech St Mary on Tuesday morning, police failed to attend. Instead, the call handler advised the witness to hang up and call an ambulance.

But in a statement issued this afternoon a spokesperson for the police blamed poor phone signal for what happened and said the perpetrators had left before the details could be taken.

Alastair explained the incident began as he drove along the two-way section of North Brink in Wisbech at around 8.45am.

He said: “As I went along the river towards the Red Lion a car pulled out from behind a parked car and tried to force its way through.

“I had right of way but because of the parked cars, there was not enough room for both of us. I stopped to allow the other car to come through, but when it reached me it stopped and the driver wound down his window and started shouting and swearing at me.

“I admit, I swore back because I had done nothing wrong, and had even given way for him.”

Alastair said the cars then both moved off and he continued on his way to his brother-in-law’s in Wisbech St Mary, thinking no more about the incident.

However, as he turned to pull into his brother-in-law’s drive in Church Road the car from the earlier altercation came up behind him and rammed into the side of his vehicle.

Alastair said: “It was a real shock. I got out of my car and the other driver got out of his and he just swung a punch at me. We ended up in a tussle and I ended up on the ground.

“The man was kicking me, and shouting and then another man got out of the car and joined in. One of them was stamping on my head. My brother-in-law came out to see what was happening and dialled 999 to call the police.

“But when he got through the person answering the phone asked if an ambulance was also needed. He said ‘yes’ and they told him to hang up and call back and ask for an ambulance.

“An ambulance did come and I was taken to hospital strapped to a spinal board as they were worried I might have spinal or neck injuries.

“The people who attacked me just got back into their car and drove off. My car is probably a write-off and I have had to take time off work because of my injuries.

“Luckily I didn’t suffer any lasting damage, but I have a lot of bruising all over my body and you can see the print from the sole of one of their shoes on the side of my cheek.

“Hours later I received a message from the police giving me an incident number and telling me my crime was being reviewed and I would be contacted again. It is now Wednesday afternoon and I still haven’t spoken to an officer and no one has come out to see me.

“When you call 999 because you are being attacked, you expect the police to respond.”

A Cambridgeshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “We received the first 999 call about this incident at about 8.40am on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the line quality was very poor, and the call dropped out, meaning no details could be taken on this call, or another made immediately after for the same reason.

“It was only on the third call that clear communication was possible, and it was established the suspects had left the scene

“The call handler identified the victim’s injuries were now the priority and urged the caller to call an ambulance directly, as first-hand information from the scene is known to be most effective.

“A crime was raised and the following day, an investigating officer left a message for the victim when it was not possible to contact them.

“Contact has since been made, evidence secured, and the investigation continues.”

Yesterday afternoon Alastair messaged the Citizen and said: “I still haven't seen anyone from the police or received any advice about documenting the injuries or anything else.”

Alastair is now appealing to residents in Wisbech St Mary, particularly in the Church Road area who may have doorbell or CCTV footage that will help the police.

The assailants were thought to be driving a grey coloured Vauxhall Zafira.

Alastair’s unanswered 999 call came just over a week after Cambridgeshire’s Chief Constable Nick Dean gave assurances improvements would be made after a series of calls for police support went unanswered across Fenland on January 25 when a horde of hare coursers went on a criminal rampage across the district.