Mark Bennett, from the South Wales Argus, was attacked by a gang of youths when he went to the aid of workers at a Newport shop.

The classified ads controller suffered bruising after helping remove some abusive youngsters from a Spar shop near his work. They were being abusive to the staff and had been asked to leave.

He said: "I told them to go out and backed them out. Outside the two of them and six others jumped me.

"They punched me and backed me up against the wall, punching and kicking me."

An 18-year-old shop assistant, Rachael Madden, said later: "The two youths were threatening us and messing around.

"It was really nice of Mark and he came in later to see if I was all right."

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