A 23-YEAR-OLD man from Melksham was beaten and stabbed after enjoying a night out in the town.

Paul Siekiera, of Pembroke Road, was attacked in the Lowbourne area of Melksham in the early hours of Friday. The incident happened just over a year after his family was struck by tragedy when his sister's boyfriend, 19-year-old Luke Wells, was killed along with his father when their tractor plunged into the Kennet and Avon Canal near Pewsey.

Mr Siekiera, a joiner, was taken to the Royal United Hospital with stab wounds to his left side and leg, a broken nose and a possible fracture of the cheekbone. Mr Siekiera said: "I was on my way home when I heard shouting near the alleyway by Woolworth's.

"I crossed the road level with the alleyway and this person came up to me and asked me what I was staring at. When I told him I wasn't staring at anything and that I was just going home, he smacked me." Mr Siekiera said he ran away but was cornered by a group of men in the car park of Buds nightclub, where the attack took place.

"I remember someone grabbing me and being kicked in the face. "The next thing I knew, I was being pulled into Buds by some members of staff," he said. "I was lucky because if the staff had not come in when they did, I don't know when the attack would have stopped. "There was blood all over my hands and I had three stab wounds in my back, all near the kidney area, and one in my leg."

Mr Siekiera was taken to hospital, where he received treatment and underwent a CT scan to find out if he had suffered brain damage.

He was discharged from hospital on Friday evening, but is still in pain and suffering bouts of dizziness. On Friday police cordoned off two areas of Lowbourne and forensic teams carried out an examination.

  • Five men from Bath appeared before magistrates at Chippenham on Monday charged with wounding with intent.

Daniel Hibbett, 20, of Ballance Street; Rickie-Lee Scott, 19, of Walwyn Close; Junior Dixon, 23, of no fixed abode; Jarmiene Alison, 21, of Riverside Gardens; and 20-year-old Ashley White of Lamley Green, Twerton; are due to appear at Swindon Crown Court today (Friday).