A man was jumped and battered by eight yobs after he challenged a group of teenage girls who were messing with a fire safety panel on a train.
The 27-year-old man was heading home from a night out in Paisley with his partner on Saturday when he was brutally attacked by a gang of thugs.
Police revealed the victim asked two teen girls to stop messing with fire safety equipment on the train during the journey.
However, when he got off around 11.30pm he was approached by two teenage boys who started threatening him.
A black car then screeched to halt beside him and other men jumped out and violently attacked him at the corner of John Lang Street and Speirs Road.
They kicked and punched him before he fell to ground, where they continued their vicious onslaught.
It is understood the mindless gang then made off as the victim staggered to his feet.
He suffered scrapes and bruises during the beating, but did not require hospital treatment.
The two boys who first approached him are described as white males, both aged around 15. One had blonde hair, and was dressed in grey, while the second had dark hair and was wearing a dark jacket.
Cops probing the mindless attack have appealed for witnesses to come forward.
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Inspector Allan O’Hare, from Johnstone, Renfrew and the Villages community policing team, said: “A 27-year-old man was assaulted by a group of eight other men in Johnstone’s John Lang Street and Speirs Road around 11.30pm on Saturday night.
“He was initially approached by two teenage boys after alighting a train from Paisley Gilmour Street Station to Johnstone.
“A black car then arrived and further males got out and thereafter the man was assaulted. He was struck to the head and body.
“The suspects then fled the scene.
He added: “This was a cowardly attack on a man who had been enjoying a night out with his partner. We are carrying out extensive enquiries, including checking CCTV, in relation to this incident.
“I would appeal to anyone who may have been in the area an witnessed what happened to come forward to police.
“If you were driving in the area at the time, I’d ask you to check dash cam footage to see if you captured anything which may be useful to our investigation.”
Express readers with information are asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
