A dad suffered a broken jaw and fractured eye socket in an horrific attack while walking home through a park.

Lee Jackson was hit from behind with what is understood to have been a metal pole before being beaten by a group as he walked through the Great Lines park in Gillingham on Saturday evening.

He said he was suffering with a lot of "aching and pain" but remembers very little about the attack.

"I vaguely remember walking down the path and a group of lads asked if I had any weed," Lee said.

"But I said 'no I don't smoke' and kept walking.

"They followed and were calling 'oi bruv' at me and the next thing I remember is being hit and then waking up in an ambulance."

Lee was walking back from his partner's house across town when the unprovoked and random attack happened.

Police confirmed they are investigating the incident after being called at about 9.20pm.

A spokesman said inquiries into the incident are ongoing and officers are appealing for witnesses who may be able to help the investigation.

The group stole his phone which has not been recovered which holds sentimental pictures of his two daughters and a bag containing a sandwich, a couple of drinks and a few other possessions.

Lee was taken to hospital with a bleed on the brain, a broken jaw, fractured eye socket, gashes to his head which needed stitches and further injuries to his hand and arm.

His partner Erica Jackson said his injuries looked like he had "gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson".

"The consultant said he couldn't believe how many fractures Lee had to his face," she said.

"I cried when I was at the hospital and saw him there because of all the blood and his injuries..."

"I could have been identifying his body if someone hadn't have found him.

"It's disgusting that someone did this and just left him and is devastating to see it for yourself.

"I just want to get my hands on these *********. It must have been a group to cause that amount of injuries and cause the bleed on the brain it must have been repeated blows.

"I dropped the phone when I heard 'bleed on the brain' because you immediately think that he's going to die.

"I cried when I was at the hospital and saw him there because of all the blood and his injuries."

She said Lee is a gentle person and would never get into a confrontation and has a "heart of gold" who "lives for his children" but has been changed by the attack.

Erica said he's been much quieter since the incident and as a result of his broken jaw has to eat blitzed up baby food for the next six weeks at least until he heals.

But while Lee is starting a long recovery with his physical scars, Erica says the mental toll will take much longer to heal.

"They (the culprits) don't realise the impact it's had on his life and other people's lives," Erica added. "When we go out now, we're always scanning everybody around us even just in Asda.

"It's a mission now for him to go out for a walk – he used to do that and would use that route all the time.

"Just a stupid little thing like a knock on the door makes him jump and I have to say 'it's okay'.

"For someone to do this and knock his confidence out of the ball pit is just disgusting. He will be living with this for the rest of his life.

"I don't like to go out on my own. We feel we've constantly got to be looking over our shoulders now."

She says she fears the suspects will never be caught and is hoping more witnesses who might have seen something will come forward.

Erica thanked the two witnesses who called police and an ambulance and says she wants to "shake their hand" for staying around and making statements to the police when officers arrived.

"You hear so often that witnesses go off. So for them to stay and wait I want to thank them for handing police their name and number and helping. We owe them everything."

Erica says following the attack on Lee and another incident when a man reported being raped in an alleyway near the park on Wednesday last week, there's much more need for increased security measures.

She added: "That's two incidents in the space of two or three days – where are the police patrols?

"They need to put cameras up there because everyone is getting away with it.

"I will go on a one woman campaign if I have to because people aren't going to feel safe up there.

"It needs more lighting and cameras and I will fight the council for it if I have to. It could've happened to anyone."

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 01634 792209 quoting 46/213582/21 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or the online form by clicking here

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