Terrified Lytham teen had crowbar swung at head

Michael Kadenge and his friend, James Butterfield, both 14, escaped the vicious attack on Green Drive, Lytham, just after 7pm on Tuesday.

He said: “I was cycling down the road and he just came out of nowhere and started swinging the crowbar around.

“He swung for my head.

“I managed to dodge it and cycled away on my bike.

“He started chasing me and then he started chasing my friend while shouting ‘do you want some?’

“I don’t know if it was the sharp end of the crowbar but I didn’t want to find out.”

Michael cycled desperately for five minutes to get away from the man, described as about 50-years-old, standing around 5’10” tall with a ‘scrunched up’ face and a slim build.

His description was linked to another report made by a walker around 7.40pm, who said he saw a man wearing a Manchester City top emerge from the bushes in the same area holding a crowbar.

Michael said: “I was scared. My leg was shaking.”

Michael, who is a Year 10 student at Lytham St Annes Technology and Performing Arts College, reported the attack to the police from the Axa Insurance car park on Ballam Road.There, he says, he and James waited for more than an hour for officers to arrive. although police dispute that.

“We stayed outside for a while warning people about the man. We warned a group of girls who were going into Green Drive with a dog, and a man with a kid.

“Then some people told us that it wasn’t safe so we started cycling away.

“The next thing we know we got a call from the police asking where we were.

“I don’t think they took it seriously enough. I managed to get away because I’m 14, but if it had been a little child who had wandered off things could have ended very differently.”

Michael’s mum, Wendy Mulela, 54, was horrified when she found out what had happened when he returned to their Sherwood Road, Ansdell, home.

She said: “It didn’t hit me until later what could have happened to Michael if he hadn’t got away. It’s frightening to think about.”

Ms Mulela, who works at Clifton Kindergarten in St Annes, added that she was disappointed that police kept her son waiting.

She said: “They shouldn’t have expected them to stay there. They should have told them to go home and then come to see them.

“After something like that, you just want them to come home.

“Their safety was not ensured.”

James’ mum, Ann Butterfield, said: “It’s shocking that this happened in such a quiet area.

“Children should be allowed to go out and play with their friends. I don’t want James to be frightened to go out. I don’t like that the police kept them waiting as long as they did.

“You would have thought they would have been a priority with them being only 14.”

Inspector Robert Conolly-Perch, of Fylde Police, said: “Investigations are continuing into this incident. The response by police took 30 minutes.

“We have spoken to operators and advised we should have been at the scene within 15 minutes. We apologise for this delay.”

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