By Sarah Curran
RYAN Gray has spoken for the first time about the vicious attack he and his dog endured last month.
Speaking with The Spectator, the K9 Search and Rescue founder and volunteer reflected on the attack for the first time, telling how 15-20 youths attacked him and his dog, as well as a friend, when he stood up to injustice.
Ryan explained how the attack came about on High Street in Bangor on March 27, where he had been walking his dog Max, with a friend.
He said there had been a large group of youths shouting ‘disrespectful’ words at a couple across the street.
“I said ‘listen lads, wind your neck in and have a bit of respect’ and that is literally all it took for the rest of the night to unfold,” Ryan recalled, noting how the group got bigger as he walked on up the street.
“The lads were definitely very vocal and boisterous. Then a couple of the lads started to get their phones out and that’s when I said to my mate, we are going to get it here.”
Shortly after the youths had pulled phones out to film the encounter, Ryan said they began throwing punches and kicks, with one particular youngster riling his peers up.
Ryan continued: “The punches and kicks just started coming. We got kicked and punched from the corner of High Street up until we got outside Donegans.”
Some bystanders tried to stop the attack, Ryan said, with one man able to finally put an end to it, with the police called for help.
“To be honest, I really can’t remember loads of it. I know I was on the ground a couple of times and I know when I was downIgotabitofakickanda punch and the video sort of confirmed that up,” he said, adding he had only been able to watch the video posted online once.
Ryan and Max have been recovering from the ordeal over the last few weeks, with Ryan suffering a broken tooth, broken nose, bruised eyes and whiplash type injuries as a result.
A war veteran who has served two tours of Iraq, Ryan said the attack had been traumatic.
“I have PTSD from the tours and I am sort of out the back of that and still get wee bits of nightmares,” he said.
“I’m not surprised I’ve had extra nightmares after going through that and that affects my wife and kids because I do proper howl and they are getting woken up in the middle ofthenightandit’sabitofa disaster. We are working through it and we will get there.”
Ryan said he believed the attack had gained much traction due to the involvement of his dog, noting that Bangor had been experiencing a build- up of anti-social behaviour for some time, paying particular attention to the abuse of local business owners.
“Nobody wants to see a dog being kicked or punched and I think the other thing is this has been building with the shops being terrorised. I think this was the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of the public speaking up,” he said.
Determined to change the attitude of young people, Ryan said he wished to link in with professionals to help them.
“I don’t think they realise they are going to screw up their whole lives,” Ryan said, noting that overseas travel would be difficult for those with a criminal record.
“People shouldn’t have to walk past that sort of behaviour especially from young people without being able to challenge that but then I did challenge it and I ended up in hospital for it.”
He continued: “I want to try and engage with them, even those that were involved in the assault, to try and make them understand that it’s not right andiftheydodecidetogoona path of right in later life it could potentially be too late if they already have a criminal record.”
Ryan praised the PSNI for their swift response to the incident, with a number of arrests made since the attack.
He also thanked everyone for the support received from the public and local representatives.
