Wildlife champion shaken up by attack at Leziate Lake

A former policeman has been left traumatised by an attack at Leziate Lake after confronting gangs of people for “disturbing wildlife”.

Warren Jones, 64, of Grimston, said the attack, which has left him with a swollen left eye, swelling around his temple and scratches and bruises to his back and his leg, has caused him “severe mental trauma”.

Mr Jones, who served as a police officer in West Norfolk until the late 1980s, is a regular open-water swimmer at the lake and helps to protect the wildlife there on behalf of the landowner.

He was at the lake on Tuesday afternoon with the intention of placing a nature camera on the island to capture the disturbance of nesting birds.

He had taken a GoPro camera with him to record the current status of the nests, but it was not switched on.

Mr Jones had swum to the island to advise a group of youths to leave, and once they had, he returned to the side of the lake to speak to them.

He claims that there were several groups of people who were in breach of the law, who he confronted about their actions, including one group who had lit a barbecue.

Mr Jones said a man lunged at him and knocked him over by punching him in the side.

Following this, one of the youths accused him of filming him, which resulted in a tussle over the camera.

“He punched me in the left side of my head close to my eye. He continued to try to wrestle the camera from me,” Mr Jones said.

“I told him it was not on but it made no difference. Eventually I managed to retrieve the camera.”

He said the aggressive behaviour continued, after which he decided to leave.

“When I arrived back on the opposite side of the lake I rang 999 and reported the incident,” he added.

Mr Jones said he was told an officer would attend, but he waited for an hour and then left.

“Had the officer arrived within 15 or 20 minutes the assailants would have still been on or near the site,” he added.

“I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of a serious assault whilst on duty as a police officer and this incident has caused severe mental trauma.

“I have had to increase my medication.”

He added: “We are all very proud of the wildlife on the lake and try to keep it safe and undisturbed.”