A MAN says he was was beaten to a pulp by a gang of more than 20 children - some as young as eight - because he had no cigarettes to give them.
Heavily bruised and suffering a fractured eye socket, broken jaw and shattered teeth, Glenn Lambourn was still shaken when talking to the Northern Territory News about the vicious attack.
"I thought I was going to die," he said. "They just kept smashing me over the head - I was on all fours and they surrounded me and kept laying the boot in flat out.
"They just did not stop - I felt my teeth go.
"All I could do was try and run but I kept falling."
Mr Lambourn, 35, said he was walking to catch a cab after drinking with friends at the Palmerston Tavern in Palmerston CBD when the attack happened on Sunday.
He said the children - all of Aboriginal appearance and believed to be aged between eight and 14-years-old - approached him on their bikes near a skate park and asked for a cigarette.
In a lengthy attack he said he was bashed with a lump of wood, had a bike smashed in his face and was repeatedly kicked in the head.
He said he will undergo surgery to his face where steel plates will be inserted to repair the fractures later this week.
He has urged anyone who witnessed the assault to call police.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25441818-2,00.html
