Express & Star

Father in coma after Dudley road rage attack

A father-of-three was fighting for his life today after being knocked out in a road rage attack as he walked home from a darts match.

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Paul Currie, aged 40, was punched after urging a motorist to slow down.

The driver stopped and knocked Mr Currie to the floor with a single blow as he walked back from The Woodside Inn to his home on the nearby Holly Hall estate in Dudley.

Victim – Paul Currie

He has undergone surgery following the attack, which happened at 3pm on Sunday, and was today described as being in a critical condition.

His girlfriend, Jo Smith, aged 29, has been at Mr Currie's bedside at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

She said: "It's dreadful – Paul is in a coma and I'm in a state."

Miss Smith's mother, Susan Smith, aged 54, also of Woodside Road, said: "Paul had tried to tell someone to slow down but they stopped, reversed up the road, got out of the car and punched his head.

"He was moved from Russells Hall Hospital to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and they operated on Sunday night to remove a massive clot from his brain. He is now in an induced coma.

"I find it absolutely disgusting that someone could do this to a man, particularly a father of three children, the youngest of which is four months old, when he was trying to do something good.

"Jo is very shocked – devastated. You just don't expect something like that to happen."

A regular at the Woodside Inn said Mr Currie had played a darts match and was walking home.

A 25-year-old man has been charged with wounding and was due to appear at Dudley Magistrates' Court today.

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