Boy, 15, in brain injury unit after Bexhill attack
A 15-year-old boy is being treated in a specialist brain injury centre after suffering a serious head injury in an attack in Bexhill.
Sussex Police said the teenager had been to a beach party before the attack in De La Warr Parade, just before midnight on Friday.
The boy was on the seafront with three friends when he was punched by a man.
Detectives believe the attacker was at the same beach party the victim and his friends had been at.
'Man called out'
Det Insp Paul Phelps said: "This is a very serious incident and officers have been patrolling the area throughout the night."
He added: "Although we don't know the exact circumstances that led up to the victim being punched, we would urge anyone who witnessed the assault to please come forward as a matter of urgency."
He said officers also wanted to speak to anyone who was at the party.
The victim, two girls and another boy were walking along the seafront between Middlesex and Brassey Road when the attack happened.
Police said a man called out to them and the boy crossed the road to speak to him.
Seconds later, he was apparently punched and fell to the ground, sustaining a serious head injury, officers said.
He is being treated at the Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre in Haywards Heath.
Police want to trace a man described as white, 5ft 6in to 5ft 7in and in his early 20s, with short blond hair, wearing dark blue jeans and a long-sleeved white top.