A VICTIM of a brutal hammer attack has spoken of his concern that nobody has been caught for the crime.

The 28-year-old from the Cell Barnes Lane area of St Albans was hit across the head a number of times as he walked to a friend’s house along an alleyway towards Hill End Lane on the evening of Thursday, March 11.

But three months on his attacker is still on the loose, which the victim said has left him paranoid and concerned for the public’s safety.

He said: “I was walking to my mate’s house and somebody was following me along the Hill End Lane track just before you come out by the mobile homes and he stepped up behind me and hit me. Luckily I wasn’t knocked out but it split my head open and I just managed to get to a house and knock on a window before I passed out.”

The victim, who has been left with scarring and constant headaches which has prompted doctors to book him in for a brain scan, believes that his attacker was trying to rob him but he didn’t get away with any valuables.

He questioned why the police weren’t treating the attack as attempted murder but a spokesperson for Herts Police explained that there was no evidence to suggest the culprit set out to kill the victim.

Dc Simon Smith from the Local Crime Unit in St Albans said: “Due to the seriousness of this incident, detectives are treating it as an assault (grievous bodily harm with intent). The investigation is still ongoing and every evidential opportunity is being explored.”

He explained that a 22-year-old man from St Albans was arrested in connection with the assault and later released without charge.

But Dc Smith urged anyone with information to contact police via the non-emergency number on 0845 3300222.