Abbeydale Road violence: Sheffield teens attacked in street after celebrating A-level success

Teenagers who were attacked in a Sheffield street by a gang had been out celebrating their A-level results - and feared they would die.

The pair, a male and female both aged 18, told The Star they had been to a pub after passing their A-levels at High Storrs School, having received their results the same day.

But after they had left, they were attacked by a group of around four people, who they said had been catcalling the young woman before the attack.

The victims, who are now recovering from their ordeal, have told The Star what happened. The male who was assaulted believes the attackers wanted to rob them.

He said he was left bruised, with cuts to his legs, and felt concussed the following day. But he passed his thanks to staff from a nearby pub, The Barrowboy, who came to their assistance after hearing shouting, and to a nurse who also helped them following the incident, taking a look at their injuries. The gang ran off when the people from the pub appeared.

The victim said: "I don't think there was any more they could have done - they were incredible with the help they gave."

The female victim, who described being kicked in the face after being knocked to the ground, said: "I’m recovering now. After the incident I had two cuts on my bottom lip and one on my nose, but they’ve healed up a bit now. Mentally though, I think this will stay with me for a while.

"At the time, I’m not really sure what I was thinking - mostly just 'oh sh**, oh f***, we’re going to die' and I kept shouting at them to leave (the male victim) alone. Retrospectively though, the thought of what could’ve happened if they had knives is haunting me. Thank God they didn’t.

"I think I was honestly shocked that people could be that horrible and filled with malice. It’s the type of thing you hear about happening to other people but never expect it to happen to yourself. That’s why I want to urge people to be careful.

"I don’t think I’ll want to walk around that area at night again. It’s hard to tell if I’ll feel safe in that area again since this has happened. I definitely won’t while my attackers are still out there."

South Yorkshire Police said in a statement that they had received a report of a couple being assaulted on Abbeydale Road at around 11.35pm on Thursday, August 17.

The force said: "It is understood that the man and woman were walking along Abbeydale Road when, near to the Tesco Express, they were approached by a group who threatened them before assaulting them both. It is believed that the suspects fled the scene.

Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information can contact police online or by call 101 quoting incident number 1,154 of August 17, 2023.

Witnesses can also access the South Yorkshire Police online portal by logging onto https://smartcontact.southyorkshire.police.uk/