THE sister of a man who was viciously assaulted in St Albans city centre hopes a Facebook photo she found on a local nightclub’s website will further the police investigation.

Her 28-year-old brother, who does not wish to be named, had been celebrating Christmas with colleagues at Club Veeda when he left the premises after 2am on Friday, December 21, with a woman.

A group of about seven men aged between 20 and 25 approached and attacked the man, who works in a fitness centre and lives in Essex, without provocation.

The man suffered head and body injuries and had his front teeth kicked out. He is to have a costly dental implant this month.

His sister praised a local taxi driver for bravely shielding her brother from his assailants, saying he “could have died if he hadn’t intervened”.

Herts Police later released CCTV images of a group of men they were seeking in connection with the assault.

To help the investigation, the man’s sister then spent a considerable amount of time trawling through Club Veeda’s Facebook pages, where she tracked down “almost HD quality photos” of a man who was pictured in one of six CCTV images.

She has forwarded that photo and several others to St Albans Police.

Dc Andrew Yuill said: “I would like to speak with the man pictured as part of my inquiries.

“If this is you I would please ask that you contact me. I would also appeal to anyone who may recognise the man pictured to make contact.

“As I am sure you are aware from previous appeals which have been covered in the Herts Ad this was a particularly vicious assault.

“I would re-appeal to anyone who may have any information whatsoever about what happened to contact police directly.

“If you do not feel comfortable in calling please called the independent charity Crimestoppers immediately and you do not have to give your name.”

Please either call Herts Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.