Skindred frontman Benji Webbe is lucky to be alive after being bottled in a random attack while walking home from a party in his hometown of Newport, Wales.
The reggae-metal singer sustained heavy gouge wounds to his face and throat after he and his girlfriend were allegedly mauled by a group of female assailants.
“I went outside with my girlfriend, Julie, and I saw about three or four girls arguing. As we went past them I tried to calm them down and said ‘calm down will you’ jokingly,” he told WalesOnline.
“One of the women turned to me and came within four inches of my face, screaming and shouting.”
Webbe then alleges that the woman came at him with a shattered glass.
“She got up and all hell broke loose,” he said. “I thought she had slapped me in the face.”
But the singer soon realised that it was more than just a slap, because he was bleeding heavily from the face and throat.
He further alleges that the woman’s friends also attacked his girlfriend: “One girl grabbed Julie as well and they were spitting on her,” he said.
While Julie was lucky enough to escape injury, Webbe wasn’t so fortunate. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he received some heavy duty stitches.
“Every time I talked the gash would open further,” he told Wales Online. “The nurse said it was definitely glass.
“It was about two inches from my jugular vein. At first I didn’t realise the seriousness of the damage. I could have not been here today.”
Posting on Facebook following the attack, Webbe has thanked his fans for all of their support, while sharing some gruesome picture of his scars, saying “This is what I’ll live with for the rest of my life”.
“This is been quite an ordeal!” he added. “Julie fortunately was not physically hurt but the whole thing has taken a toll on us both for me to be slashed across the face and the throat. For Julie to be dragged around and spat at by a group of women who glassed me, Just know that we will rise above this and remain positive and in love.”
Newport police, meanwhile, have commenced a manhunt (or in this case, womanhunt) for those responsible.
Skindred last toured Australian as part of Soundwave 2014, where they played sideshows with Ill Niño.
Check out Webbe’s post-attack Facebook posts below.
This is what ill live with for the rest of my life
Posted by Benji Webbe on Sunday, January 31, 2016
Thank you all so much for all your concern and well wishes, makes all the difference and means the world to us, as you... Posted by Benji Webbe on Sunday, January 31, 2016
Went to iffys party and ended Getting slashed in the face an throat on the way home, Luke Enos people dem Posted by Benji Webbe on Saturday, January 30, 2016
