Police appeal for witnesses after man sustains 'life-changing' injury following assault outside Cheltenham

Police in Cheltenham are appealing for witnesses after a man sustained "life-changing" injuries to his wrist following an assault outside the racecourse on the Thursday of the festival last month.

In an appeal, the police said the victim was attacked by four men and was kicked in the wrist after falling to the floor. The group of men stole his jacket, which had a rose gold diamond ring inside. He required surgery to his wrist due to the injuries.

The incident took place on the racecourse roundabout at around 6pm, shortly after the final race of the day, and the victim was heading towards the coach park.

Gloucestershire Police are looking to speak to any witnesses or drivers passing by who can provide further insight. In a statement, it said two of the men were white with ginger hair and another was black.

The statement added: "Officers are appealing for witnesses of an assault which took place outside Cheltenham racecourse and left a man with life-changing injuries to his wrist.

"Officers would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the assault and hasn't already spoken to police or who was driving past and has dashcam footage they feel may be relevant.

"Information can be provided to police online by completing an online form and quoting incident 216 of 27 March."

There were several incidents of violence during the four-day Cheltenham Festival in March and seven arrests were made across the meeting. 

Yet the local council said earlier this week that efforts within the town to reduce anti-social behaviour from racegoers – such as urinating in public – had led to a "substantial decrease" in complaints from residents. The racecourse launched its own Love Our Turf campaign this year to combat troublesome racegoers on the routes into the town.

Gloucestershire Police reported a total of 547 incidents during the week containing the Cheltenham Festival.

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