Shocking footage has emerged of a greyhound trainer being attacked from behind from a man who punched and kicked him.
The brutal attack happened at Crayford Greyhound Track when an invader set about the helpless trainer whose colleagues could only watch accompanied by their dogs. The victim was walking with his greyhound at the front of the parade line when his attacker jumped on his back and started punching his head.
The victim's greyhound was left pulling away trying to avoid the attacker who then kicked and punched the trainer before the camera panned away. Fellow members of staff were seen running towards the attacker and the victim's dog was pulled away by another trainer.
Police stated that they were called at 12.36pm yesterday to reports of an assault in Crayford. A police statement added: "A man was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm. Enquiries continue."
When contacted by The Mirror the racecourse were "unable to comment". A video clip of the incident was shared on Twitter by bookmaker Martin Chapman with the comment: "It’s Showtime …" followed by a boxing glove emoji.
Fans were quick to comment about the unusual incident. @NickyHanshaw posted: "This is better than anything @EddieHearn has put on in the past decade." Meanwhile some fans wanted to know more about why the attack happened. @LGH87 said: "I've never seen anything like this, we need some context ASAP." Another fan confused by the video was @FifaBasz who added: "So many questions."
Racing fans were also quick to applaud the actions of a fellow trainer who pulled the victim's dog away from the incident while also managing his own. @TotallyBetting replied: "Jesus Christ. Fair play to the person with the two dogs getting the lead and the greyhound out the way asap." Commenting about the greyhound's reaction to the attack, @punter_ni said: "Greyhounds really are good natured, can't handle any aggression at all, abs startled by that."
Crayford is one of 21 licensed greyhound tracks in the UK and holds race meetings five days a week.
