The victim of a vicious assault in Blagdon Park which left him brain damaged has surprised doctors with his medical progress, according to police.

Witnesses said a gang of up to 20 youths took part in the daylight assault, punching, kicking and jumping on the victim’s head in April before escaping on a bus.

The 16-year-old was kept alive on a ventilator after the attack and 14 people have been arrested and bailed in connection with the police investigation.

The full extent of the Wimbledon College student’s injuries are largely unknown beyond the information police have released.

Chief superintendent Paul McGregor told community leaders at the Kingston Police and Community Group meeting on Monday night that the boy was making some sort of recovery.

He said: “He has made considerable progress beyond what some in the medical profession thought he would do in the original diagnosis.

“There is an awful lot of investigation going on. We are looking at mobile phone traffic and the like. That creates its own complexities and takes a considerable amount of time.”

Nicholas Man from St James’ Church, New Malden, told the group police had been warned about drinking and antisocial behaviour in Blagdon Park before.

He said: “We did draw attention but it was played down and we were told there wasn’t the resources to patrol the park.”

But Chief Supt McGregor said policing Blagdon Park was one of his top priorities and he was working with Kingston Council to find long term solutions.

He said: “I can’t give 24/7 security to that park but I can assure you we are doing everything we can to prevent that situation from happening again.”

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