Two members of operatic harmony group G4 have been targeted by a mugger who fled empty-handed after trying to snatch a laptop.
Mike Christie, who was hit over the head with a solid object, and Jonathan Ansell both suffered soft tissue damage during the offence on a recreation ground in the Yardley area of Birmingham.
Christie expressed disbelief at the “bizarre” attack on Twitter after the offender made off with his rucksack, containing the laptop, in the early hours of Sunday.
Ansell gave chase and managed to wrestle back the hold-all, receiving a blow to his left eye before the assailant ran off.
Both singers – whose group shot to fame in the first series of ITV’s The X Factor in 2004 – were assessed and discharged at Birmingham’s Heartlands Hospital.
Ansell told the Press Association he chased and struck the mugger after realising that crucial information relating to the group was on the laptop.
The 34-year-old said: “We went out at midnight-ish to barn-storm over ideas and stuff and the plan was to go to McDonald’s.
“All of a sudden I just heard Mike shout out an expletive and saw this figure running off with the rucksack.
“I instinctively chased after him and grabbed the bag and ended up with stars in my eyes after being punched in the face.”
Ansell said he had decided not to report the offender – who was wearing a hat or a hood – to the police because they had recovered their property.
Fellow group member Christie, 35, said: “I’m very shaken by the incident and am just pleased no one got severely injured.
“I am also really thankful to Jon for managing to recover my rucksack from the scumbag.”