EXCLUSIVE: British teen beaten by bouncers at Greek nightclub reveals injuries and the truth about how brutal assault broke out as his ‘devastated’ mother issues warning to parents whose children are going to Zante
- Distressing footage shows James Taylor, 18, being beaten up by bouncers
The British teenager who was savagely beaten up by four bouncers at a nightclub on the Greek party island of Zante has revealed the extent of his injuries and the truth about how the brutal attack broke out.
Distressing footage shows James Taylor, 18, being held in a headlock by four bouncers at the CherryBay nightclub in Laganas on July 4 before they took it in turns to punch, kick and elbow him in the face and body.
James, from Middlesbrough, told MailOnline he suffered two black eyes, a swollen jaw, bumps on his head, a bust lip and a cut on his knee following the savage attack and shared photographs of his horrific injuries.
The teenager revealed that the savage attack happened simply because he had stood on a chair to take a selfie with his friends before dancing there for ten seconds. A bouncer had tried to grab James’s arm to pull him down from the chair, but when James pulled back, the club employee disappeared.
‘The bouncer came back ten seconds later with the rest of the bouncers who were in the video and they took me outside and started beating me up,’ James said. ‘That’s all it took, something as little as standing on a chair.’
The revelation comes as his ‘devastated’ mother Michelle Taylor, 55, warned other parents whose children are going to Zante – a popular destination with young Brits – that what happened to James could happen to them.
‘I want to get this message out there that this is unacceptable and this is happening to our children,’ Michelle told MailOnline. ‘I’m a mother and every mother will feel this if this happens to their son when they go on holiday to Zante.
‘You shouldn’t have to worry about whether they could get beaten up by bouncers.’
Distressing footage shows three bouncers holding James Taylor, 18, in a headlock while a fourth pummels him with a series of devastating punches
James, from Middlesbrough, told MailOnline he suffered two black eyes, a swollen jaw, bumps on his head, a bust lip and a cut on his knee following the savage attack and shared photographs of his horrific injuries
The mother-of-three said James had called her in the early hours of Wednesday morning to ask whether he had medical insurance because he had been attacked by the four bouncers.
‘I wanted to get on a plane and go over there. I wanted to bring him home but he wanted to stay out there, that he wasn’t going to let them spoil his holiday,’ Michelle said.
Michelle says she hasn’t watched the video of her son being attacked because it would be ‘too traumatising’.
The distressing footage shows three bouncers holding James in a headlock while a fourth pummels him with a series of punches. As the Briton desperately tries to break free from their grasp, the bouncers begin to take it to take it in turns to kick, punch and elbow him in the body and head.
One bouncer can be seen repeatedly punching James with a right hook to his head as he tries to protect his body from the heavy blows. At one point, as the 18-year-old nearly breaks free, a large man knees him in the face and pushes him into the corner before punching him in the face.
In the video, a second bouncer can be seen quickly stepping forwards and sucker-punching James in the face, the force of which causes his head to hit the wall behind him in a sickening blow. A bloodied and bruised James is eventually able to escape from their grasp.
Speaking about the attack, James said: ‘It happened so quickly. I only remember the really big punch – the adrenaline took over.’
When asked about him being kicked and kneed in the body by the bouncers, he said: ‘I can’t remember that, it was all just a blur. I only knew about being kicked when I was sent the video when I landed in the UK.’
James Taylor (second from the left) is pictured with his friends at the CherryBay nightclub in Zante on the night he was attacked
Michelle (pictured with James) says she hasn’t watched the video of her son being attacked because it would be ‘too traumatising’
James is pictured at a wedding with his little cousin
Harrowing photographs taken a day after the attack shows James with two black eyes and a busted lip.
Michelle said she ‘felt sick to her stomach’ when she James told her about the attack.
She said: ‘As a mother, it doesn’t matter how old your child is, you want to protect them. I wasn’t there. I wasn’t there to keep him safe. He’s a happy lad, he’s gone on holiday with his friends to have a good time – and then this happened.’
Michelle, her voice cracking with emotion, added: ‘It’s made me sick to my stomach that someone could do this to a young 18-year-old and get away with it. I was absolutely devastated – I still am.’
Michelle, who cares for her elderly mother and grandchildren full time, added: ‘James is a lovely lad. Everyone who knows him loves him. He’s not an aggressive person, he doesn’t go out looking for trouble. I’m furious that this can happen and they can get away with it.
‘If this had happened in the UK, this would be taken all the way to the court. Why is this being allowed?’
Video shows the bouncers putting James in a corner before they begin punching him
One bouncer can be seen repeatedly punching the Briton with a right hook to his head as he tries to protect his body from the heavy blows
The Briton is then thrown across the room again towards his concerned friends who reach out to check on his condition. The youngster, whose face is bloodied and bruised from the frenzied attack, is led out of the door by his friends as the brutal bouncers follow them out
The ‘devastated’ mother said she ‘shudders’ to think about what would have happened if the bouncers had attacked his two friends with him as they are smaller in size and James goes to the gym.
‘If they had punched either of his friends who were with him and they fell to the floor, I shudder to think what might have happened to them if they had kicked them,’ Michelle said.
Greek media reports quoting unnamed sources had included unsubstantiated claims that the bouncers attacked James because he had hit a girl with a bottle on July 7. But James was beaten up by the bouncers three days earlier on July 4 and he said he had not hit a girl.
Speaking about why the bouncers had attacked him, James said: ‘I was sitting with my friends in the back of the club and we had some seating around us. We got a selfie of the big group of us there and I had jumped onto a seat to get into the picture and danced on the chair for about 10 seconds.
‘The bouncer tried to grab my arm to pull me down and I pulled my arm back before he said “get down”.
‘I got down straight away, but I don’t think he liked the fact that I was strong enough to pull my arm back off him. The bouncer went off but came back ten seconds later with the rest of the bouncers who were in the video and they took me outside and started beating me up.’
James added: ‘I was shocked at how little you have to do for these foreign bouncers to start beating someone up like that.
‘I thought that if you go away and you’re being daft and causing trouble, then yeah maybe, but I didn’t realise it would happen for something as little as standing on a chair to take a selfie.’
James said after the attack, he will ‘never go back’ to Zante.
‘The bouncers just want to fight and beat people up. It’s a regular thing for them to beat up tourists. When I was over there, people asked where I’d gotten by black eye and when I said “take a guess”, they all guessed Cherry Bay straight away.’
When asked what he would tell other teenagers planning to travel to Zante, he said: ‘If people are going to go to Zante, just know that all you have to do is as little as stand on a chair and that could happen to you. They really don’t care.’
Following the attack, James was rushed to the medical centre and given an X-Ray. He told medics that he had suffered the injuries after he was beaten up by the bouncers.
But Michelle said that the medical report just says James had suffered his injuries ‘by falling over on his face’ – despite the teenager telling them about the attack in detail.
‘That is scary. I feel like these people are all in on it. They are all corrupt, they are all sticking together no matter what. That in itself is scary.’
Pictured: Map showing Laganas on the Greek island of Zakynthos
General view of the CherryBay nightclub where the attack happened
Local media reports in Greece had reported that James had spoken to the police and identified a Serbian bouncer. But James and his mother said he never spoke to officers.
MailOnline has contacted CherryBay nightclub for comment.
In 2017, an American tourist was beaten to death by seven Serbian men, including one bouncer, and a Greek bartender at Bar Code in the same resort of Laganas.
Bakari Henderson, 22, was in Zakynthos for a photoshoot to launch his own fashion line when he and his friends visited the bar and reportedly asked a Serbian waitress for a selfie.
The mob of Serbian men chased Henderson out onto the street and was fatally attacked.
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