Reform UK activist ‘punched man in the head after taunting him about death of his wife’

Martin Shipton

Police are investigating an incident in which a Reform UK activist is alleged to have punched a 62-year-old man in the head after taunting him about the death of his wife.

The alleged assault occurred around lunchtime on Saturday May 2, as former teacher Nick Christian conversed with Reform campaigners at their tent in Wrexham city centre.

Mr Christian, who has had a series of health problems including cancer, told local videographer Ben Jones: “As I was walking this way, basically checking out charity shops because I’m destitute … there was the Reform UK tent set up, and there was a gentleman handing out leaflets.

“He asked me if there was anything I wanted to know about their party, so I said: ‘Yes. I’d like to know your stance on immigration.’ The gentleman and I had an amicable conversation where we agreed to disagree.

“A different gentleman interjected and said: ‘You’re talking absolute bollocks.’ And then a separate gentleman circled around me asking if I was married, in a very aggressive manner.

“He repeated the question even closer and more aggressively, at which point I informed him: ‘I’m a widower’, that my wife is dead, and he started laughing and mocking me quite there in public, under the Reform tent. I never entered the Reform tent. I stayed in the public area. And at that point the guy who said I was talking utter ballocks decided that punching me four times in the side of the head was a great idea, and because of my blood thinners, I was suspected to have had a brain haemorrhage.

“I went to hospital in the ambulance and I had good news: it’s only a concussion. As the police were eventually arriving, they decided to leg it and it was only because a witness followed them on her phone, telling the police where they were, that they were able to apprehend the guy that assaulted me.”

Emigrated

Later Mr Christian told Nation.Cymru: “I decided to talk to them about their policy on immigration because I’ve twice been a migrant myself. When I was a child my family emigrated to Canada, and I came back when I was 15. So I know how difficult and unsettling being a migrant can be. I’ve always taken the view that people who are prepared to leave home and move somewhere entirely new to better themselves are the kind of people with initiative that will help our society thrive.

“I certainly didn’t expect to be punched four times in the head. It’s thuggish behaviour.”

It is understood that a passer-by who witnessed the alleged assault has made a statement to the police, as has Mr Christian.

A local political source said: “I have heard about this very unpleasant incident. I am afraid there is a nasty element associated with Reform UK in Wrexham, as well as with the group Wrexham Unite, which puts up flags.

“Apparently one of the big noises in Wrexham Unite was in the Reform tent last Saturday and involved in the incident.”

A spokesperson for North Wales Police said: “We received reports of an alleged assault on Argyle Street, Wrexham on Saturday afternoon and our enquiries into this incident are ongoing.”

A Reform UK source said the allegations “appeared to be completely without evidence”.