A photo has been released of father-of-four Eddy Mpundu in a medically induced coma after he was attacked in Lewisham on August 8. Scotland Yard also released CCTV images of men they want to speak to in relation to the incident.
Officers found Eddy Mpundu, 39, lying on the ground in Bestwood Street, Lewisham, suffering from severe head injuries after they were called to reports of a fight shortly before 2.30am on August 8.
Mpundu was taken to hospital and has remained in a critical condition ever since. He is unable to speak to his family, including his ex partner and three young sons and a young daughter, who are keeping vigil at his bedside.
The CCTV images show two men that police believe arrived at the scene in a blue Ford focus car shortly before the assault. The driver is described as a white male and his passenger is a black male. Both men got out of the car and approached Mpundu outside a late night grocery store in Lower Road near the junction with Bestwood Street.
The black man then appeared to become aggressive towards Mpundu, for reasons unknown to the police, and a shop assistant intervened to prevent Mpundu being attacked.
Mpundu walked away from the situation and then the suspect struck him once on the head from behind with an unknown object, causing the father to fall to the ground unconscious. Seconds later the attacker ran towards the blue car he arrived in and threw an item into it. He then fled the scene on foot.
A number of members of the public came to Mpundu’s assistance as he lay on the ground. The white man driving the Ford then appeared to join them and even attempt to give first aid to the victim before jumping back into the car and driving away.
Detective Constable Alex Hamilton, from Lewisham CID, who is leading the investigation said: “It is imperative that we identify these two men, particularly the individual who was seen to strike Eddy. His whole family has been left distraught by this vicious, unprovoked attack, for which any reason or motive is unclear.
“Eddy worked for Woking Council before the assault – but his physical injuries are so severe that his doctors cannot say at this point if he will ever recover enough to work in the future or lead any kind of normal life.”
The victim’s brother, Donny Mpundu, 35, agreed to the release of Mpundu’s name and images to help encourage witnesses and those with information to come forward. They have also released photos of Eddy Mpundu before and after the assault.
Donny Mpundu said: “For us, the assault on Eddy was a tragic and unfortunate event. We could not believe someone would ever want to hurt Eddy. As Eddy is the rock of the family, we feel like a huge gap in our respective lives, as if we have lost track in our every day… together as Eddy’s family has been affected to what happened to our lovely brother we deeply love.
“Since Eddy’s incident, we haven’t been going to our daily jobs and in additional to that, it includes sleepless nights, stressed morally, emotionally and physically. Our lives have been turned upside down, trying to make sense of how and why it happened.”