Violent attack in Bestwood Road, Deptford, leaves father-of-four Eddy Nganji in coma

Police have released CCTV images of two men being sought in connection with the attack which happened in Bestwood Street, Deptford, on Tuesday, August 8.

Officers found Eddy Nganji, 39, lying on the ground suffering from severe head injuries after they were called to reports of an altercation shortly before 2.30am.

UPDATE: Arrests made in connection with the 'vicious, unprovoked' attack of Eddy Nganji

Eddy was taken to hospital and has remained in a critical condition ever since, unable to speak to his family, including his ex-partner and three young sons and a young daughter, who are keeping vigil at his bedside.

The CCTV images show two men that police believe arrived at the scene in a blue Ford Focus car shortly before the assault.

The driver is described as a white man and his passenger a black man.

Both men were seen to get out of the car and approach Eddy outside a late-night grocery store in Lower Road near the junction with Bestwood Street.

The black man then appeared to turn aggressive towards Eddy, for reasons unknown to the police.

The shop assistant of the store then intervened to prevent Eddy being attacked.

As Eddy walked away across the street towards McDonald's trying to avoid any confrontation, one of the men hit him once on the head from behind with an unknown object, causing the father to fall to the ground unconscious.

Seconds later the attacker ran towards the blue car he arrived in and threw an item into it.

He left the scene on foot along Bestwood Street in the direction of Trundley's Terrace.

A number of members of the public came to Eddy's assistance as he lay on the ground.

The remaining suspect then appeared to join them and even attempt to give first aid to the victim. He then jumped back into the Ford and drove off away from the scene down Bestwood Street.

The man who was seen to hit Eddy is described a black man, aged between 25-30, about 5ft 7ins, of stocky muscular build with short black hair, and wearing what is thought to be a navy tracksuit.

The other man, who drove the car towards the scene is described as a white man aged about 20-25, about 5ft 7ins, clean-shaven, wearing a dark hooded jumper.

Detective Constable Alex Hamilton, from Lewisham CID, who is leading the investigation said: "It is imperative that we identify these two men, particularly the individual who was seen to strike Eddy.

"His whole family has been left distraught by this vicious, unprovoked attack, for which any reason or motive is unclear.

"Eddy worked for Woking Council before the assault - but his physical injuries are so severe that his doctors cannot say at this point if he will ever recover enough to work in the future or lead any kind of normal life."

Eddy's brother, Donny Mpundu, 35, agreed to the release of Eddy's name and imaged to help encourage witnesses and those with information to come forward.

They have also released photos of Eddy before and after the assault. Donny explained that Eddy had enjoyed attending an intimate family gathering on the evening before the attack.

Donny said: "For us, the assault on Eddy was a tragic and unfortunate event. We could not believe someone would ever want to hurt Eddy.

"As Eddy is the rock of the family, we feel like a huge gap in our respective lives, as if we have lost track in our everyday... together as Eddy's family has been affected to what happened to our lovely brother we deeply love.

"Eddy was the kindest, thoughtful and most selfless man you could ever meet. He is a gentle and very compassionate, it's the norm for him to put others first, nothing is too much for him.

"The number of the people who come to visit him can testify how many souls he has touched.

"Since Eddy's incident, we haven't been going to our daily jobs and in additional to that, it includes sleepless nights, stressed morally, emotionally and physically. Our lives have been turned upside down, trying to make sense of how and why it happened.

"We feel helpless sitting at Eddy's bedside just waiting for any little improvement, for any positive information from doctors and praying for miracles. It's a real emotional roller-coaster the not knowing what the future holds.

"Please, please we appeal to you, if anyone knows anything about what happened to our beloved brother, father and uncle Eddy, even if it's something you may think that is small, just please get in contact with the police".

Anyone with information should call Lewisham CID via 101 or contact @MetCC via Twitter. To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.

Two man aged 42 and 27 were arrested August 9 and 10 respectively on suspicion of conspiracy to commit GBH but have since been released under investigation.