Four teenagers attacked a man with learning difficulties in Crawley last night and smashed his personal stereo.

The victim, in his early forties, was walking across the Brighton Road bridge in Southgate at 6.30pm when the four youths began hurling abuse at him.

He turned back but they followed him. He was punched in the face three times, making his nose bleed and injuring an eye.

One youth tried to take his jacket off and another dropped his personal stereo, smashing it.

One of the gang was Asian, 6ft, aged 17 and described as skinny and wearing a white cap. The others were white, aged 15 to 17. One was wearing a T-shirt, shorts and trainers.

A police spokesman said: "This was a particularly despicable offence. We are appealing to anyone who witnessed this to come forward."