BBC Radio Merseyside presenter Simon Hoban attacked with knuckleduster in Hamburg's Reeperbahn

Nov 15 2012 By Eleanor Barlow

BBC Radio Merseyside drivetime presenter Simon Hoban needed facial surgery after being attacked with a knuckleduster while on holiday in Germany.

The 37-year-old was on a short break in Hamburg when he was attacked in the street and is now recovering in hospital in Germany after undergoing surgery to put six metal plates in his left cheek on Sunday.

He was hit in the face with what is thought to have been a knuckleduster while on city street the Reeperbahn in the early hours of Saturday morning.

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A friend said: “This man just came out of nowhere and practically staved the left side of his face in with just one punch.

“The surgeon told him it was the worst case he had ever seen in 25 years.

“When they opened his cheek there was nothing there where his cheekbone should have been, just bits floating about.

“They said he must have used a weapon like a knuckleduster because there’s no way he could have done that much damage with just his fist.”

Simon, who had been due to fly home on Monday, is expected to be discharged from hospital on Friday.

He said: “This was a horrible thing to happen but I’m in good hands and hoping to make a full recovery.”