A masked gang has been filmed beating up bin men with a sledgehammer, axe and bats in shocking footage.
It comes as refuse collectors in Stoke have been targeted in a number of attacks.
Terrifying footage obtained by Stoke on Trent Live shows the four masked men appear in Birches Head Road where the bin men were at work.
The men jump out of their car and are seen carrying a hatchet, axe, and a sledgehammer and go towards the bin worker’s vehicle, whose crew seem unaware of what is happening.
The bin lorry is then targeted, with one bin crew member hit on the body with a baton, while a different crew member is pounced on just as he crashes into a wheelie bin. These incidents occurred as a gang member damaged the cab windows.
In a separate attack, another driver of a black Vauxhall Corsa gets out of his vehicle and starts to face up to the group of Stoke-on-Trent City Council bin workers in Fairhaven Grove in Birches Head.
Following the tussle, where he throws punches into the cab, the vehicle’s driver subsequently pulls a lollipop man’s school crossing patrol sign from his boot and commences to swing it at the lorry before it gets away.
The driver was struck three times through a window and later underwent treatment for head, face, and foot injuries. Meanwhile, three binmen were harmed in the sledgehammer incident, with one of the council workers having hospital treatment for facial, head, and leg injuries.
Police found the black Vauxhall Corsa and a sledgehammer inside the vehicle in Kidsgrove, Stoke. Three days after the attack, one gang member was arrested in Suffolk.
Those responsible included 27-year-old Joe Cordon, from Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, who was arrested in Suffolk and admitted to charges of wounding with intent, two counts of assault, two counts of criminal damage, driving a motor vehicle otherwise in accordance with a licence, and driving without insurance.
Kyle Hilditch, an 18-year-old from Bucknall, Staffordshire, has admitted to two counts of wounding with intent, two counts of conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, and criminal damage.
Kyle Worthington, a 19-year-old from Abbey Hulton, Stoke-on-Trent, has admitted to conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
The last gang member, Jack Spackman, a 24-year-old from Bentilee, Stoke-on-Trent, has admitted to two counts of conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, and criminal damage.
All the men are scheduled to be sentenced on September 13 at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
