Around 10 masked youths are said to have run into a Cardiff barber shop where a customer was attacked. Isaac Omoyibo, who owns Fresh Look Salon in Canton, said flowerpots, a massage machine and a metal stool were used to repeatedly strike a teenager who had just had a haircut.
The incident took place at around 5.15pm on Friday in the shop in Cowbridge Road East. CCTV from a neighbouring business caught a group of youngsters — who wore their hoods up with balaclavas or masks over their faces — walking towards Fresh Look Salon just before the attack.
Speaking at the scene minutes after the incident, Mr Omoyibo told WalesOnline that a boy aged around 17 was targeted while sitting on a sofa at the back of the shop. "He was waiting for a lift, then this happened," said the 38-year-old. "These 10 people with masks on came in and I knew something was not right.
"I asked what they wanted and they just started talking to the guy on the sofa. They were saying, 'You think you're a big man?' Then they started hitting him with laughing gas cylinders. He fell and they hit him with everything they had. They used a metal chair. They broke our massage machine on him."
The youths also struck him with two flowerpots which were left in pieces on the shop floor, said Mr Omoyibo. The hail of blows landed on the teenager's face and body, he added.
After around a minute the attackers appeared to flee around the corner of the Castle Bingo hall but within minutes they had returned, he said. "They came back again but I had locked the door so they couldn't get in," said Mr Omoyibo, who believes they were aged 16 to 18. CCTV then captured a group of youths leaving the scene, again running around the bingo hall corner.
"They could have killed that guy," said the barber. "He said he is OK but I don't think he is. His eye was closed up and he had blood all over it. He should be checked over for internal injuries but he did not want to speak to police. He just left."
Mr Omoyibo, who has owned the shop for nine years, cut another customer's hair as he gave his account to a police officer and WalesOnline, flanked by smashed flower pots. He said: "I know one of them [the attackers]. I could see through his mask. When the time comes he will pay for everything he did in my shop. I want to call the father of that gang."
Hemant Kumar, who works at a convenience shop near the scene, said a teenager came in at 5.16pm and asked for a face mask but abruptly left without buying anything. At that moment the boy started running away from the scene with a group of youths who were sprinting off from the direction of Fresh Look Salon, said Mr Kumar.
Laughing in disbelief, the 43-year-old said the convenience shop had only been open for a month. "When you see this happen, it would scare anybody. I don't know what's wrong with them."
A 72-year-old customer of Castle Bingo was at the corner of the hall when he was met with a stampede of hooded youths. He said: "I was trying to walk round and they were smacking into me at 100mph, shoving past. I didn't know what was going on. They were all dressed the same in black tracksuits and black coats with hoodies. I wonder if they were all in a special gang."
The Barry resident added: "I have been coming here a very long time now but the area is starting to get a reputation. I do feel safe here though."
At this point in the interview — around 5.55pm — a bright green can slammed onto the pavement inches from the customer and this reporter. Fanta Exotic poured from the can which had been lobbed from the car park behind the bingo hall. A passer-by said he had seen two youths run across the car park after throwing it. "I don't feel safe now," said the customer as a police officer jogged in the direction of the youths.
Another witness to the incident at the barber shop said she had heard the teenagers shouting "Spider-Man" and kicking a red Ford car as they ran back and forth. She recalled one of them saying: "Do a video." The woman added: "I don't know what is going on in this day and age. If people can do this in daylight, I think it’s frightening."
South Wales Police have been contacted for comment. If you have any information which could help police, call 101. You can read more of the latest Cardiff stories here.
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