British tourist Jonathon Mullen, one of the latest victims of violence in Albufeira after he was attacked by a gang just off the strip in Albufeira on May 22, has vowed never to return to the region.
He told the Algarve Resident: “I was over on holiday for a football tour. This was my first trip to the Algarve and I can assure you that it will be my last after my attack.”
Jonathon, who is a 24-year old butcher from East Sussex, has been over for a weekend trip and had been out in Albufeira with the football group when on the way back to their hotel, five of the group stopped for a hot dog at around 4am.
“I remember waiting for one of the group to go back for another hot dog when a gang of around four or five guys came up to some of the group and began to go through their pockets.
“They never asked for us to hand over phones or money because if they had, I would have handed everything over as we didn’t want a fight or a problem,” said Jonathon.
He added: “I walked over and the next thing I know I am being hit over the head with a glass bottle. As I fell onto the ground, one of the gang came up and kicked me in the face and from then on everything was a blur.”
The attack was described by Jonathon as “completely unprovoked and needlessly aggressive” and he sustained a broken nose, torn ligaments in his ankle and required stitches to his face, although no money or items were stolen from him.
“The only person who had a phone had it taken off him by the gang, who ran off when they saw that I was unconscious, so nobody was able to call the police and members of my group who tried to ask for help were met by bars closing their doors on them. We still have no idea who eventually called for help,” said Jonathon.
He added: “When I was in the hospital, I was on a trolley next to a guy from Manchester who I had seen earlier. He told me how he had been in a fight and he had been slashed all over his back.
“It is a real shame that we feel we cannot return to the Algarve now but some of the guys on the trip are only 18 years old, and we cannot expect parents to be happy with them going abroad to a place where it is not safe to go out at night.”
The incident was not officially reported to the police in Albufeira: “To be honest I didn’t really know what to do about the police and I just wanted to get home after the whole incident,” said Jonathon.
