RETIRED Guernsey baker Brian Senner was almost blinded in a vicious stoning attack by youths in Alderney. The 70-year-old had been on holiday with his wife, Margaret, 71, when teenagers struck outside a small Second World War bunker the Senners rent every summer behind Fort Albert.
Mr Senner, whose family run the New Senner’s Bakery in St Martin’s, was working outside when a stone hit him in the face, smashing his glasses and leaving a gaping wound.
‘I could have easily lost my eye. In fact, my glasses probably saved my eye,’ said the pensioner.
He looked up to see three youths about 100 yards away throwing stones from Fort Albert down to the bunker. ‘There were three teenagers, about 14 or 15 years old, two were wearing hoodies,’ he said.
They continued to throw stones after he had been hit.
‘One of them was throwing left-handed. There can’t be many left-handed 15-year-old boys on the island.’
Yesterday his son, Martin, 41, put up a £1,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the youths who struck on Wednesday 20 June at 8.30pm. Police emphasised that this was a personal reward and did not come through any official channels.
Mr Senner has held off from going public until now on police advice but hopes the money will bring his father’s attackers to justice.
‘I’m absolutely incensed. Still, after three weeks, I’m very angry. I just can’t sit back and do nothing. I want them caught.
‘They obviously intended to hit him. They even kept throwing stones after they had hit him.’
He said the behaviour was a departure from the petty vandalism that has plagued the island since the end of last year.
‘This is different. He could have lost an eye and if he’d been knocked unconscious and fallen to his right he would have been over the cliff. It was potentially life threatening,’ he said.
‘No one will say anything about it, but will they let a few thugs spoil the island? The incident is not good for Alderney’s reputation as a peaceful island with virtually no crime.
‘Life in Alderney is generally the way life should be lived but now it seems to be becoming more like Guernsey and Jersey. If it is, then more fool them.’
Recovering from his injuries this week, Mr Senner, who praised the St John Ambulance team and Alderney GP Dr Cooper, added: ‘This kind of behaviour has got to be stopped in Alderney. Hopefully, someone will say something with the reward but what I’m really after is an apology.’
So far the police have had little luck in hunting down the culprits.
‘We’re very keen to catch the offenders. Investigations are ongoing and attempts have been made to identify the suspects but we are still urgently seeking information,’ said Alderney’s senior officer Sgt Jeff Hill.
‘This sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable in a close-knit community and is an unfair reflection on the general behaviour of youths on the island,’ he said.
Article posted on 10th July, 2007 - 12.00am
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