TWO victims of a vicious gang attack have described how they feared they would be stomped to death.

Ryan Hickey, 25, and James Fitzgerald, 30, were ruthlessly bashed by the gang of youths, who repeatedly kicked and stomped on their heads even after they had handed over all of their possessions.

The pair were attacked in the Fitzroy Gardens in separate incidents about 3am on April 14.

Mr Fitzgerald said he handed over his wallet, phone and passport to the thugs amid a flurry of kicks and punches, but they appeared determined to kill him.

``I thought, `OK, they’ve got my stuff now’ and that’s when the beating really began,’’ he said.

``It was savage. It was extreme violence … I must have been kicked and stomped in the head about a dozen, 15 times, maybe more and I was lying on the ground covering my head and they were literally kicking it like it was a football. Not little digs, but proper kicks.’’

Mr Fitzgerald, who moved to Melbourne from London two-and-half-years ago, suffered a broken wrist as he shielded his head from the blows.

``People were stamping on my head repeatedly like it wasn’t a person’s head, but like a balloon,’’ he said.

He was able to escape when a woman accompanying the thugs begged them to stop and whispered in his ear while they were distracted for him to run for his life.

``I was thinking ‘this is it’ and then luckily that girl saved me. Because if she hadn’t of said that, they weren’t going to stop,’’ Mr Fitzgerald said.

Mr Hickey sustained a broken vertebrae in his spine after the same gang bashed him almost to death a short time before Mr Fitzgerald’s attack.

Like Mr Fitzgerald, the gang bashed Mr Hickey before and after stealing his wallet and phone.

``It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life,’’ he said. ``If they just wanted my wallet and mobile phone they would have done what they needed to do and taken off.’’

Mr Hickey was found bloody and bruised by two Irishmen, who helped him to a nearby night club and called an ambulance.

``It was very violent. They were very hard kicks and punches. They were getting run-ups and kicking me in the head,’’ he said.



The Melbourne Embona Robbery Taskforce is investigating the robberies, and police believe the attackers later used one of the credit cards to buy items at a convenience store on Bridge Rd, Richmond.



Police also want to speak to the two Irish men who stopped to help the first victim.



Police have released CCTV images of three men and a woman they believe can help with their inquiries.



They are of African appearance and are described as tall and skinny.





Originally published as 'I thought they would kill me'