A DETECTIVE who put “his heart and soul” into bringing a six-strong gang of violent thugs to justice for a vicious assault which left a 20-year-old man in a coma is our Bobby of the Week.

Travelling fairground worker Mitchell Barker was walking his dog in Tamworth’s Castle Grounds when he was attacked in a “serious, vicious, sustained and unprovoked assault” by six men.

The gang were said to have acted like a “pack of animals” and after knocking Mitchell to the ground “mercilessly” kicked, punched and stamped on him leaving him for dead.

Mitchell was found unconscious by his brother who went out to find him after their dog returned home without him.

Described as a “gentle giant”, Mitchell suffered multiple injuries and spent six days in a coma.

Detective Constable Chris Alford, of Tamworth CID, was assigned to investigate the case and had to overcome a number of hurdles.

They included gaining the trust and confidence of Mitchell’s travelling family, who “appeared to have an inherent distrust of how the police would respond to the incident”; and protecting two young female witnesses, a 14 and 15-year-old girl, who feared reprisals and were intimidated by people who knew about the case on telephone, by text and on the internet.

And when six offenders, aged between 18 and 23 and from Tamworth, finally went on trial a dedicated room set aside for case exhibits was flooded overnight and vital exhibits damaged. But DC Alford stayed late photocopying and building up new exhibit bundles and in September last year the offenders were sentenced.