The brother of Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood has been victim of a brutal attack, during which he was punched to the ground and kicked in the face.
Taking to Instagram this weekend, Paul, 59, re-shared a Facebook post by Wirral police which outlined details of the attack.
The initial post detailed how a man ‘in his 50s’ was walking his dog when he got into a dispute with another dog owner.
It continued: ‘The dogs were separated by the other male who then became irate. As the man walked away he was approached from behind and punched to the floor by the male. He was then kicked in the face and back before the male made off.’
Police revealed that the unnamed man suffered ‘injuries to his back and face,’ and was taken to hospital for treatment while officers investigate witnesses and CCTV.
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The TV judge and celebrity baker has since identified the attack victim as his younger brother Lee Hollywood, and launched his own appeal for information.
Sharing the post to his Instagram account, Paul wrote: ‘If you have information regarding this attack on Friday night, the person in question who was attacked is my brother Lee.
‘Any information please follow details above Thankyou.’
The post by Wirral Police also included a statement from Detective Inspector Phil Ryan, who said: ‘This was a nasty and unprovoked assault which left the man needing hospital treatment.
‘We are appealing for anyone who was in the area of Links View Playing fields or Shackleton Road at around 7pm last night who heard or saw the incident or saw the male leaving the area to contact us.’
Like his older brother, Lee is a baker, and worked with Paul at their father’s bakery in York – until the celebrity baker hit the big time, that is.
‘I’m the grafter of the family, Paul’s too busy with Bake-Off. The last time he made a proper loaf was about ten years ago,’ Lee joked to The Daily Mail in 2016.
Lee used to run Liverpool’s Born & Bread, supplying baked goods to local businesses, although this reportedly went into administration in recent years.
In 2021, Paul revealed how he feared Lee ‘could die’ after being hospitalised with COVID during the height of the virus.
‘My brother phoned me up a couple of weeks ago to say he caught Covid,’ he told The Sun at the time.
‘It was a huge panic….I didn’t want to lose him.’
He continued: ‘My other brother, Jason set up this WhatsApp group. We were bombarding him ‘Where are you? What’s happening? Are you in ICU?’ And it was a huge panic for me. I don’t want to lose my brother.’
Thankfully, Lee made a full recovery, to the great relief of Paul and the rest of their family.
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