Driver dragged from cab and kicked in face in terrifying assault near London Fields

Assaulted: Neil Moon. Photograph: Trisha Telep

A lorry driver who was dragged from his cab and kicked in the face by thugs after he parked in a spot close to London Fields has told how he pleaded with his assailants to leave him alone as he lay bleeding on the ground.

Neil Moon, 50, who has worked in long distance haulage for five years, was badly beaten up during the terrifying attack in Gransden Avenue near London Fields in the early hours of the morning after he parked opposite a wholesalers where he was due to make a delivery.

Mr Moon, from Castle Cary, Somerset, was treated at the Homerton Hospital for injuries including a fractured nasal bone and ruptured blood vessels in his eyes.

He said he heard three men trying to break into his lorry and tried to scare them away by honking his horn.

He said: “Before I knew it I was being dragged out and punched and kicked. Once I was down, I was defenseless. It was just a matter of when they were going to stop, but thank god they did. It was over quickly but it seemed like forever.

“When I was down on the ground, I said, ‘Please, just leave me alone. I’ve had enough.’”

The roads around London Fields are popular with long distance truckers who routinely park there and sleep before making early morning deliveries to markets including Billingsgate and Smithfields.

Mr Moon said the incident at around 5.30am on May 17 has left him so shaken he no longer wants to work in London.

He said: “It’s certainly made me sit back and think ‘What the hell am I doing this for?’ Out there on the road there are so many crazy idiots. You don’t know what they’ve got on them. It’s just all verbal and then you drive off, but in this instance, when they actually get to you, what do you do?

“If I’d had a baseball bat in the truck and I’d got out and given them a good smacking, I’d be the one in the dock now.”

Mr Moon has had eye surgery to try to repair the damage caused by the kicks to his face. A bone sticking into his sinuses has made right side of his face numb.

No arrests have been made and inquiries continue.

Police have asked for anyone who witnessed the incident to contact the Hackney Police violent crime team on 020 7275 3644.