Hawkins - who was attacked while snapping pictures of the rioters at the Oakleigh Bob Jane T-Mart outlet - was punched and kicked as he lay on the ground. "I had nowhere to go, mate - I was on the ground,'' he said today. ''I thought I'll never get out of this job ... I feared for my life." The 5000-strong mob had gathered earlier in the night to protest the cancellation of the Easternats, a drag-racing event sponsored by Bob Jane. Police said today at least six of the thugs involved had been identified from photographs, however no one has been arrested yet. Hawkins was taking photographs of the rioters smashing window when he heard someone yell: "There's a photographer. Grab his camera."

"That's when I got hit from the side and went down to the ground. "I've just rolled up into a little ball and put one hand on my head and the other holding my camera. All of a sudden the other guys have come over and started kicking me." Two days on, Hawkins is still suffering from the beating. "I feel like I've been hit by a car. I'm sore all over. I've got a lot of headaches at the moment. I'm going to the doctor this morning," he said. "I've been to a lot of events. I'm coming up to 30 years in the media. But this is out of control. It turned nasty very quickly."

Hawkins said the protest had been peaceful until people started throwing beer cans at the dealership's windows. "Then a man in a red T-shirt came out of the KFC with a baseball bat. He was the first one who started hitting the window," Hawkins said. "Then a second guy, he's the one [in the photos] kicking the window in ... A guy's got a chair which was outdoor furniture of KFC Oakleigh. He started throwing it." He said while the vandals were smashing the shop windows, the rest of the crowd cheered them on.When the window started shattering, some members of the crowd began retreating. It was also when he felt the stinging blow to the side of his head. "As they were starting to kick me a fleet of about 20 police cars came in and somebody yelled out 'run!' The crowd started running in all different directions.

"If it wasn't for the sirens and the police, they would have finished me off," he said. Hawkins said the assault felt like it went for "ages". He said police were present for most of the incident, including two units from the dogs squad, but they stayed in their cars, obviously outnumbered. Acting Commissioner Neville Taylor told Radio 3AW no arrests had been made but police had positively identified at least six offenders. "The information people have provided has been quite overwhelming.

Loading "We've been very fortunate with the large amount of footage that's been available. "At least one person rang in to nominate themselves as having misbehaved."