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Pictured: Marco Pannone
A waiter at a fashionable London pizza restaurant is fighting for his life after being brutally beaten by two drunk diners when he tried to throw them out.
Marco Pannone, 25, was left with serious head injuries after a closing time row with two customers at the Brixton restaurant and bar where he worked last Saturday night.
Witnesses said the men, who were both drunk, had been asked to leave but refused and then attacked Marco as his back was turned, kicking and punching him to the ground where he hit his head.
Paramedics raced to the Canova Hall venue in Brixton, London, where the attack happened and rushed him to the nearby Kings College Hospital where doctors are now battling to save his life. It’s understood he has had surgery.
His sister Veronica, speaking from Italy, told MailOnline: ‘He is between life and death. My brother is such a gentle person, he’s been living in London for five years and nothing like this has ever happened before, he always said how safe he felt there.’
Friends of Marco did not have contact details to alert his family in his hometown in Fondi, Italy, so had to resort to using Facebook messenger to inform Veronica, 29.
She said: ‘Getting that message was such a shock. It was a friend of my brother’s who we didn’t know and he had found me on Facebook and told us he had been attacked and was in a bad way.
‘Neither myself or my parents had passports so my uncle has gone to London to try and find out what happened.
‘He got on the first flight to London and he’s with Marco now and we are just hoping and praying that he pulls through. We just don’t know what happened. All we know is that he has been operated on and he is in a serious condition.’
Marco Pannone, 25, was left with serious head injuries after a closing time row with two customers at the Brixton restaurant and bar where he worked last Saturday night
Paramedics raced to the Canova Hall (pictured) venue in Brixton, London, where the attack happened and rushed him to the nearby Kings College Hospital where doctors are now battling to save his life. It’s understood he has had surgery
Bruno Romano, a kick box instructor in Fondi, where Marco trained before leaving for London, told MailOnline: ‘I was so shocked when I heard the news. He is such a mild mannered, polite and educated guy.
‘I trained him in the gym for years when he was a kid before he left for London and I don’t think he has ever thrown a punch in anger. I just don’t know who would want to hurt him. It’s such a shock to everyone.’
A friend of Marco called Carlo, told MailOnline: ‘It was late and the place was closing but there were a few stragglers and Marco asked one of them to get up from his seat so he could close up.
‘The next thing he was knocked to the ground in a really violent attack by two men and hit his head, initially he got up and seemed OK but then he collapsed to the floor again and that’s when the ambulance was called.’
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Uncle Massimiliano Sepe, who is the chef of a popular restaurant in Rome called Alfredo, said: ‘We are just hoping and praying he pulls through. All we know is that he was the victim of a violent attack by two drunks and that’s it.’
A source close to the family added: ’There is CCTV of the attack taking place and it is now with the police. We are hoping that with these images we can find the people responsible.’
His sister Veronica, speaking from Italy, told MailOnline: ‘He is between life and death. My brother is such a gentle person, he’s been living in London for five years and nothing like this has ever happened before, he always said how safe he felt there’
Witnesses said the men who were both drunk had been asked to leave but refused and then attacked Marco (right) as his back was turned, kicking and punching him to the ground where he hit his head
In a statement to MailOnline the Metropolitan Police said they were called at just after midnight last Saturday ‘reports of a man seriously assaulted’ in Ferndale Road, SW9.
They added: ‘The victim was working at a restaurant in Ferndale Road at about 23:10hrs on Friday, 2 December when two unknown men approached him and engaged in conversation with him.
‘One of the men then punched the victim in the face, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement. The two suspects ran off in the direction of Nursery Road.
Officers and the London Ambulance Service attended and the victim, aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital with possible life-changing injuries. He remains in hospital in an induced coma.
Marco is now fighting for his life as his family ‘hope and pray’ he will recover from his injuries
A friend of Marco called Carlo, told MailOnline: ‘It was late and the place was closing but there were a few stragglers and Marco asked one of them to get up from his seat so he could close up. ‘The next thing he was knocked to the ground in a really violent attack by two men
‘His family were informed on Saturday, 3 December and they have since met with the investigating officers from Central South area’s CID. No arrests have been made. Enquiries continue.’
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Tweet @MetCC quoting CAD 085/03DEC.
A spokesman for Albion & East, which runs Canova Hall, told MailOnline: ‘One of our employees was assaulted on the night of December 2.
‘The incident is currently subject to a police investigation and, out of respect to Marco and his family, we will refrain from further comment until the investigation has run its course. We will of course be giving the police our fullest possible assistance in their enquiry and our focus is on supporting Marco in his recovery.’
