A WELL-KNOWN Co. Wexford publican has relived a nightmare attack that took place recently.

The pub owner in Enniscorthy, who does not want to be identified for fear of reprisal, was left with a broken nose and smashed teeth following the “frenzied” beating.

The violence took place when the publican noted a gang of three men, who are known to the Gardai, harassing a customer outside his premises.

He told the young man that he felt he was in “real danger” and to go home, but in doing so he attracted the attention of the three thugs instead.

“They were carrying beer bottles and tried to smack me over the head with them,” he told The Echo. “I wrestled one of them to the ground but then one of them started kicking me in the face and the other came behind me and was about to smash me in the back of my head with a bottle.”

Two customers intervened in the attack, which he described as “like a pack of frenzied wolves”, and the publican said he believes they saved his life.

He was immediately taken to the care-doc and A&E where x-rays were carried out, and says he has pains in his head since.

“I feared for my life,” he said. “I’m lucky I’m a big guy. Getting kicked in the head could have ended a lot worse. The scariest part was when I was being kicked and I knew there was another of them behind me with a bottle.”