Dad told to write to MP as he cradled his thug-battered son

A father who phoned 999 when his son was knocked unconscious by a drunken thug was told to write to his MP rather than bother the police.

Businessman Pete Bayliss called after his 22-year-old son Chris was taken to hospital with a broken nose and other injuries. But police said they were too busy to investigate the attack.

Mr Bayliss, 51, was visiting his son in Portsmouth last weekend when the pair decided to go for a night out.

They were queueing for a taxi in Southsea early on Sunday morning when the yob targeted them.

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The man, who has not been caught, kicked the young chef repeatedly in the head.

The attack left his victim unconscious with severe bruising across his face. The thug then ran away.

Mr Bayliss senior, who is from Northern Ireland, called the emergency services while his son lay bleeding on the pavement.

But although an ambulance came and took him to hospital for treatment, there was no immediate response from police.

"Somebody phoned for the emergency services after Chris was attacked and the ambulance turned up but there was no sign of police," said father-of-two Mr Bayliss. "After about 40 minutes I dialled the police because there were other fights going on in the area and we wanted the guy who did this to get caught.

"I couldn't believe my ears when the operator told me there was no one available to deal with it and that I should contact my MP if I had a problem with that.

"It's not the sort of reaction you expect from the police and I am disgusted that they should give me that sort of reaction.

"I thought the police should be dealing with assaults and not fobbing it off on to the MP for the area."

When no one contacted Mr Bayliss after the incident, his son reported the attack in person at a local police station in a desperate attempt to find the culprit.

He was due to have an interview to join the police next month but is so disgusted at the way the incident was handled he has withdrawn his application.

"I am angry with the police and the way they have dealt with this matter," he said "Being a police officer was something I really wanted to do. But not now.

"It's no wonder people have lost respect for the police when someone working for them behaves like this."

Mike Hancock, the Liberal Democrat MP for Portsmouth South, said: "It beggars belief you can phone the police for help and get this sort of reaction.

"I will check this out personally and find out what exactly is going on."

Superintendent Nigel Hindle, of Hampshire Police, said: "We regret that the verbal response to this call was not in accordance with our usual high standards and as a result professional development will be provided for the call handler.

"At or around this time, police officers were dealing with a number of other urgent incidents.

"As a result, it took 50 minutes for an officer to arrive at the scene. In the meantime, the original caller to the police made a second call to inquire how long it would be before an officer arrived."