A man who was killed on the Isle of Sheppey was hit on the head with a large concrete slab, locals have claimed.
Emergency services raced to the Warden Bay Road area in Leysdown-on-Sea shortly after 7pm on Sunday after reports that ‘an altercation broke out involving a small group of people’.
A man in his 40s was confirmed dead at the scene. A girl, aged 16, and two boys, 14 and 15, have been arrested and remain in police custody.
A group of holidaymakers allege that the man was hit in the head with a large concrete slab before a local tried to save his life.
Andrew Owen said he heard shouts of ‘I’ve done him’ moments after the incident.
A man was then seen lying on the ground, before the local shouted back ‘you haven’t just done him, you’ve f****** killed him’, Mr Owen added.
One father-of-three, who asked not to be named, said he had seen the victim being chased along the sea path by a youth.
He said the victim’s face had been injured and that rocks were lying close to his body. A woman giving him CPR told him she had seen a yob kick him in the face.
The eyewitness told the Daily Mail how he was alerted to a commotion on the coastal path behind his caravan.
He had seen one youth doubled over in pain with blood dripping from a wound above his right eye.
Further along the path, the man in his 40s was being chased by another teenage boy and two young girls.
He initially thought they had mugged the youth with the eye injury, until he walked further on and found the older man slumped on the floor with two people giving him CPR.
The holidaymaker said: ‘My wife had seen a commotion by the sea wall and called for me to have a look.
‘I could see one young lad wearing an orange T-shirt standing with his hand clasped to his head bleeding.
‘Further along the path an older man and younger lad were running away. They were followed by two young girls.
‘Initially I thought they’d mugged the lad with the orange T-shirt. I approached him and couldn’t get a lot out of him. He was moaning in pain and had a cut just above his right eye.
‘But a short while later the kid returned with the girls and it looked like that they were friends with the lad in the orange shirt.’
The eyewitness said one of the girls looked to be 15 or 16, while the other was a lot younger – seemingly around 12.
He added: ‘As I walked further down the path, I could see the man lying on the floor with people standing around him. There was a woman trying to give him CPR.
‘There were rocks lying around him, I don’t know if he’d been hit with any of them but the injuries were all to his face.
‘I checked his body and there was no blood so he hadn’t been stabbed or any thing like that. The lady who was trying to give CPR – along with another man – said she’d seen a youth kick the victim in the head.
‘It was obvious to me he was dead and that nobody was going to bring him back. My 11-year-old son was with me, I tried to shield him as best I could and told him to cycle back to the caravan right away.
‘Eventually I found them by a fish and chip shop. I shouted to them “you’ve just killed a man. You haven’t just done him…you’ve f***ing killed him.”‘
Kent Police officers erected a white tent in an area next to a caravan park, just meters from Warden Bay Beach, while a nearby footpath was also cordoned off.
A police sniffer dog and forensic teams have also been deployed at the scene behind the popular tourist destination.
The eyewitness said: ‘It’s shaken me up but my real concern is for my son. He shouldn’t have to see that at his age. We only arrived on Friday for two weeks holiday.
‘I don’t know anything about the man who died. He looked to be aged in his early 40s and was wearing a gold chain around his neck.
‘Someone told me that he was staying nearby with his wife and young daughter and that they had seen him being worked on by the paramedics.
‘It’s awful, this country seems to be getting worse and worse. It’s worrying.’
Another witness, who lives nearby, added: ‘I saw two ambulances and six or seven police cars go past and the air ambulance. I thought it was something serious then.’
Kent Police are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with information that could help with their investigation into the incident.
Members of the public have been asked to call Kent Police on 01622 690690 quoting 10-1384.
It also possible to report anonymously via Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555111 or by completing an online form.
A SECAS spokesperson said: ‘SECAmb were called shortly after 19:00 yesterday to reports that a man was assaulted near Jetty Road and Warden Bay Road in Leysdown, Isle of Sheppey.
‘Crews attended the scene alongside The Air Ambulance Charity, Kent Surrey Sussex, however sadly, the man died at the scene.’
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the north coast of Kent in the Thames Estuary.
It is located around 42 miles from central London and has a population of over 40,000.
The island, which is around nine miles long and four miles wide, was originally known as Sheep Island or Sceapige in old English.
