An honorary policeman patrolling in St Helier

A MAN was in hospital today with serious head injuries after becoming the 84th victim of a serious night-time attack in St Helier this year.

The 34-year-old suffered a fractured skull and a broken jaw when he was set upon in Hope Street in the early hours of yesterday.

A 24-year-old man was arrested a few hours later in a property in St Helier on suspicion of committing a grave and criminal assault and was yesterday in police custody.

In the wake of this latest attack, the police moved to reassure Islanders that the streets, pubs and clubs were safe. A States force spokesman said that there had been 84 serious assaults in town between 8 pm and 4 am this year. However, he said that most attacks involved people who knew each other and more than 90 per cent of attackers were arrested or identified.

Detective Inspector Alan Guy, who is leading the Hope Street inquiry, said: ‘This is one of a number of potentially serious assaults that have happened in the last few weeks. ‘However, we would like to reassure Islanders that these are all one-off incidents which are being resolved and, in some cases, lines of inquiry have led to arrests, charges being made, or files being submitted for possible charges.’

Anyone with information about the assault in Hope Street at 2.30 am on Friday is asked to phone the police on 612612 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.