Gabrielle Walsh was punched in the eye (Picture: MEN Media)

A teenager was punched so hard it knocked her out after she told men following her, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not interested.’

Gabrielle Walsh, 18, had been on a night out with her friend Kyle McKeown in Manchester city centre when they were approached by three men as they walked home.

One of the men told her ‘I like your feet’, to which Gabrielle replied ‘okay’ and kept trying to continue on her way.

‘They kept walking behind trying to talk to me,’ she said.


‘Eventually, I turned around and said: ‘I’m sorry, I’m not interested’.’

At that point things turned nasty, with one of the men, in his mid-twenties, reacting by calling her friend with glasses ‘specky four eyes’.

Gabrielle in hospital (Picture: Gabrielle Walsh/MEN Media)

Gabrielle said: ‘I was saying to Kyle: ‘Let’s go’.



‘Then he hit me – he fully knocked me out.

‘When I woke up I was on the floor and the three of them had jumped on Kyle as well.’

They had been walking away from Club Bloom in the Gay Village towards Canal Street at around 3.30am on Saturday when it happened.

College student Gabrielle, from West Gorton in east Manchester, said they were helped by volunteers from community safety partnership the Village Angels who gave Gabrielle some first aid.

‘They tried to get me an ambulance but they said it was a two-hour wait so I just got a taxi to hospital,’ she said.

Gabrielle Walsh, 18, was attacked in Manchester city centre (Picture: Gabrielle Walsh/MEN Media)

Her friend Kyle McKeown was also targeted (Picture: Gabrielle Walsh/MEN Media)

‘They didn’t do much, they basically just gave me some eye drops and told me to go home.

‘I went back to the eye hospital today and they said I’ve got a blood clot on my eye.

‘It still can’t really see out of it, when I open my eye all I see is yellow.’

The incident has been reported to police although Gabrielle is yet to speak to an officer directly.

A friend posted images of her injuries and an account of what happened on social media which has since been shared hundreds of times.

One witness has come forward to confirm what they saw happen but the victims hope police may be able to obtain CCTV of the incident as well.

Gabrielle was knocked unconscious (Picture: Gabrielle Walsh/MEN Media)

Gabrielle, who said the attack had left her fearful of going out in public on her own, said: ‘I’m not a rude person, I just said: “Sorry I’m not interested”.

‘I think it was a jealousy, ego thing because I rejected him in front of his friends.

‘Girls feel like they can’t say “no”.’

‘They feel like if they say “no” then they might hurt you and in this case it was true.

‘It’s scared me, I’m scared to go out, I’ve always got to be with somebody.’

The man that punched Gabrielle is described as white, around 5ft 8in tall, and was wearing a pink t-shirt.

Greater Manchester Police have been contacted for comment.