The wife of a 47-year-old British resident Oliver Butterworth, who was brutally jumped and mugged in a quite residential area of Palmanova in the early hours of Sunday morning, yesterday contacted the Bulletin to issue a plea for any eye witnesses to come forward to help the Guardia Civil with their investigation.
Car crash
The victim was walking home at around 2 to 2.30am when he was jumped by three individuals.
They stole his watch, his mobile and sunglasses, worth no more than 40 euros, his wife said, and brutally attacked him.
“I was in bed asleep when my husband walked in to the bedroom and said that he needed some help.
“I turned on the light and he was just standing there, dripping with blood, he looked more like he had been in a car crash. I called an ambulance but I was told it would take a while so I drove him to the Clinica Juanada Miramar in Palma. (“Where the staff have been absolutely fantastic, especially in such a stressful situation. The staff can’t do enough for us.”)
Broken nose
“He had suffered a broken nose, on which they operated yesterday, a possible shoulder fracture and severe head injuries which required numerous stitches.
“Fortunately there was no brain damage, but he was given a good going over,” his wife said.
“The trouble is, he remembers very little about what happened. They knocked him unconscious and just left him there lying in the middle of the road.
“It was nearly 3am when he got home, the attack happened just 120 yards or so from where we live, but he can’t remember exactly how long he had been out cold.
“His sister also lives on the island and she reported the attack to the police on Sunday and now an investigation is under way.
“And, as my husband remembers something new, we pass it on the Guardia. I walked the area, found the pool of blood in the road where the attack took place and knocked on a few doors to see if anyone had heard anything but as yet, nothing.
Tall, slim runner
“Being such a quite residential area, few cars would have been passing at that time of the morning but we are hoping that someone may have spotted something, even it was just my husband, who is tall and slim, he’s a runner and well known around here, walking home or perhaps three suspicious individuals earlier on Saturday night.
“What is more he hasn’t got a bad bone in his body, he’s not aggressive or violent at all.
“We don’t know whether he was followed or they were waiting for him. But they jumped him, caught him totally by surprise so there was little shouting or screaming, he had no warning what so ever.
“They had a look in his wallet but there was no money in it, so they left that.
Shoulder scans
“So now, he’s on the ward in hospital waiting for scans on his shoulder, which he can’t move, while his cuts and bruises get attended to.”
The couple previously lived in Majorca but moved back to the UK for a while before returning and setting up home in Palmanova last December.
“This is a crime-free zone, or was.
“I had no fears about walking around the neighbourhood at night, but I’ll think twice in future,” she said.
“We know it’s a long shot but we’re hoping to jog someone’s memory and if anyone thinks they may have something which could help us track the three attackers down, then please contact the Guardia Civil in Calvia.”