Brave Sheffield woman calls for man who punched her to pay for medical bills

A young woman is bravely calling for the man who punched her in a nightclub to apologise and pay for her medical treatment as penance for the attack.
Lizzie McKessy who was allegedly assaulted inside Code nightclub on Eyre Street. Picture Scott MerryleesLizzie McKessy who was allegedly assaulted inside Code nightclub on Eyre Street. Picture Scott Merrylees
Lizzie McKessy who was allegedly assaulted inside Code nightclub on Eyre Street. Picture Scott Merrylees

Lizzie McKessy was enjoying a night out with a group of friends at Code nightclub in Sheffield city centre when she claims a man made inappropriate advances towards her.

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Lizzie McKessy who was allegedly assaulted inside Code nightclub on Eyre Street. Picture Scott MerryleesLizzie McKessy who was allegedly assaulted inside Code nightclub on Eyre Street. Picture Scott Merrylees
Lizzie McKessy who was allegedly assaulted inside Code nightclub on Eyre Street. Picture Scott Merrylees

Moments later there was a confrontation between the man, Lizzie and her friends during which she was punched in the mouth leaving her with a broken bone and damaged teeth.

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Lizzie needed weeks of hospital treatment and says she will need braces to straighten her teeth – a procedure she says will cost up to £2000.

The attacker is still at large and police have just released CCTV of a man they are tracing in connection with the incident.

Lizzie urged her attacker to hand himself in, say sorry and pay for her dental work to compensate for what happened.

Police are tracing this man.Police are tracing this man.
Police are tracing this man.

The 21-year-old Sheffield Hallam University student said: “The whole thing has been a nightmare. The dental treatment will be quite costly and if they say sorry and pay for this then I might be able to move forward from it.

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“The incident itself was really confusing and I couldn't understand why someone would act like that.

“Nothing like this has ever happened to me before on a night out and it has left me feeling very nervous.”

The altercation happened inside Code nightclub in Eyre Street on Friday, March 29, at about 1am.

Lizzie said her group was stood on the edge of the dance floor when two men approached – and one of them made unwelcome advances towards her.

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One of Lizzie's friends confronted him and it is alleged that the man threw a punch and missed before being escorted away.

Lizzie's party then saw him again in the smoking area and her friend asked why he threw a punch at him.

She alleges the man punched her friend and then swung again, missed and connected instead with Lizzie’s face.  

Paramedics were called and she was taken to the Northern General Hospital.

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Lizzie was also critical of police as they have only just released CCTV of a man they are tracing in early June – more than two months after the incident.

She and her family were so frustrated they considered hiring a private investigator to intervene and track down the attacker.

She said: “I think delays like this will have hampered the investigation, things should have been done much quicker.

“We had to complain to police after a few weeks because nothing was happening.”

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But she did welcome the fact they have finally released the image and is putting the idea of hiring a private investigator 'on hold' to see if anyone comes forward as a result of the appeal.

She described the attacker as a man aged in his early 20s and about 6ft 2ins tall.

In a statement, Code nightclub said they are “fully co-operating” with the police investigation and have provided CCTV but would not comment further while the investigation is active. 

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “We’d like to reassure the victims of this incident that enquiries are very much ongoing and extensive work is being done to track down the individual that carried out this horrible assault. 

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“Releasing CCTV footage to the media is just one of many ways that we try to progress our enquiries. Before this step, a large amount of work goes on behind the scenes - including the circulation of images internally for potential identification by our officers.”

They added officers have been in “regular contact” with Lizzie to keep her informed about the investigation’s progress and urged anyone who recognises the man in the CCTV to come forward. 

Contact police on 101 quoting incident number 48 of 29 March 2019.