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A flight attendant was arrested and detained in Taiwan after being brutally attacked in the street while partying.

Josh Clinton had gone out with friends during a layover in the East Asian island state when he drunkenly tried to find a taxi back to his hotel.

The 25-year-old from Liverpool was stumbling through the street when he was randomly punched to the ground and attacked by a gang of thugs.

He said: "I didn't realise that where the club was and the street we was in was the 5-0 area and it's known for like mafia and a lot of scams going on down there.

(Image: Channel 5/Young, Dumb, and Banged up in the Sun)

"I sloped off, trying to go and get a taxi on my own.

"The next minute I just remember being hit. I covered up, I stumbled, I'm being kicked to the ground.

"It felt like a flurry of kicks and punches to the face and ribs. I remember like three or four people hitting me.

"They were all around me and punches were coming and I couldn't defend myself."

Passing police officers managed to chase off Josh's attackers but his ordeal was far from over.

(Image: Channel 5/Young, Dumb, and Banged up in the Sun)

He said: "I had a footprint on my head from one of their shoes.

"I had a black eye, my tooth was numb, thank god I never lost it like.

"But the police didn't even ask questions. Straight away I was in handcuffs and in the back of a car.

"And I was asking them 'Excuse me, where are you taking me' but they didn't speak any English and they just kept saying hospital and I thought 'oh that's nice, maybe they're taking me to get checked out and that' but then I just thought, why am I in handcuffs?"

While at the hospital Josh noticed a police officer speaking to an Asian man who had his arm in a cast.

(Image: Channel 5/Young, Dumb, and Banged up in the Sun)

A short time later he was taken back to a police station to give a statement about the attack - but the same man with the cast was in the same room as him.

Speaking on Channel 5's Young, Dumb and Banged Up In The Sun, Josh said: "That was the guy involved in attacking me. But I was in handcuffs and he wasn't.

"Maybe because of his arm but he looked like he was having a lovely time.

"He was eating, [they were] treating him well, laughing, talking to them in their language. It was just terrifying."

A few hours later Josh said that someone told him the guy with the broken arm, who had attacked him, was suing him over the injuries.

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He said: "And that's when I just lost it.

"I was screaming 'what the f*** is going on?' but the police told me to calm down as if I was a real criminal.

"That's when it hit me, it's his word against mine and I'm a white foreigner."

In Taiwan suspects are held in remand for 48 hours before an initial court hearing so Josh was taken to a holding cell before a young officer advised him to plead guilty so he could get out.

The next morning Josh was taken to a 'makeshift courtroom' for his first court hearing.

(Image: Channel 5/Young, Dumb, and Banged up in the Sun)

He said: "It didn't look like a legit courtroom to me.

"Real panic set in when I realised that nobody speaks English there - they're not really going to get my full story.

"It kind of felt like I was being singled out - not only by that lad and his group but by the police.

"He was wandering around with no handcuffs on, I was getting pulled by my handcuffs.

"I just thought they were out to get me. I just thought 'right I'm going to get done for this'."

(Image: Channel 5/Young, Dumb, and Banged up in the Sun)

Under Taiwanese law, suspects can be held in pre-trial detention for a maximum of six months after an initial court hearing.

Josh's plan was to plead guilty and hand over whatever money he needed to to get out and go home.

But when he did the judge removed his passport and set another court hearing for three months later.

Josh was granted bail but was detained in the country until his court date. Luckily, a local Taiwanese lawyer got the court date brought up to a month later.

At the court date, new CCTV footage showed that Josh's attacker assaulted him with four other men.

(Image: Channel 5/Young, Dumb, and Banged up in the Sun)

Josh's lawyer advised him to give his attacker £1,000 to settle the issue and after initially refusing, his mum told him to pay it and get out of the country.

Josh added: "It's a lot of money, especially when you're innocent.

"I never got a criminal conviction, they just wiped it clean.

"As soon as I gave that guy his money it was like 'alright he's got his money, go on, off you go'.

"Five hours later, I get my passport dropped off and I get taken to the airport and my employer has got me a ticket waiting for me.

"I got to fly business class back home."

Josh says that the entire experience made him re-evaluate his whole life and he applied to university straight away.

* You can see Josh's story and others like it on Channel 5's Young, Dumb and Banged Up In The Sun or catch up on My5