A MAN attacked by thugs in the street while he was helping a poorly stranger has backed a police blitz on violent thugs.

Joseph Asher Taylor, known to his friends as Ash, was robbed of his mobile phone in the town centre on August 6.

The Salford University student, of Hollins, was calling 999 to get an ambulance for a woman who was unwell when three yobs set upon him.

He said a police crackdown on violent criminals carried out in the borough this week would make thugs think twice.

“I think it’s disgraceful. You should be able to go out without having to worry about anything. If they had targeted the girl and robbed her phone, she could have died of a heart attack,” said Ash.

He added: “With police doing this crackdown, they will think twice about it, if they have got any sense with them.”

Ash had been on a birthday night out with his pal and had left the Siberia nightclub in The Rock at about 2am. He said: “We noticed a girl had had a panic attack. I called 999. I was totally oblivious to what was going on around me and then I just got hit in the head and fell backwards.

“I remember one of them standing on my left hand and saying ‘if you give me your phone we will go’. I let go and they went.”

To combat such offenders, Greater Manchester Police raided hundreds of homes across the county in a co-ordinated operation last Friday.

They arrested 672 people in a 24-hour period, including 38 from Bury — all of which are suspected of being involved in violent crime.

On Friday evening, officers then took their message to the streets, speaking with town-centre revellers about the importance of staying safe.

Ash’s auntie, Lesley Ann Taylor, aged 50, said: “His mum was worried to death after he was attacked. I think the day of police action is brilliant.”