A teacher was attacked by two teenage boys as he walked home through the centre of Hamilton.

Robert Simpson, 61, was heading along Reid Street when he was accosted by the pair wielding a homemade weapon, similar to a truncheon.

The robbery took place at 1.10 a.m. on Thursday in the stretch of Reid Street between Court Street and King Street.

Mr. Simpson suffered cuts to his arm, back and stomach after being beaten by the 'handle-type' weapon. Just hours later he then had to fly to Ottawa to attend to his father who is ill.

Yesterday Mr. Simpson's wife, Susan Clarke, said: "It is very upsetting. It's just nasty, the violence around here is getting out of control.

"It's almost becoming unsafe to walk around Hamilton without fearing somebody will mug you or steal your money."

Ms Clarke, 59, of Cavendish Road, said: "At the moment I feel like we have to take a taxi just to go a quarter of a mile to get down town. Yet this part of Reid Street is only a hundred yards from the Parliament building."

She is now calling on Members of Parliament to install better lighting in the area.

Ms Clarke, a Pro-Golf shop attendant, said: "The lighting is very bad and so we want to see improvements, to make it safer for people."

She said her husband was approached from behind by two boys, one of whom looked 13 or 14, with the other around 18.

"Someone said 'Have you got $5?' but Robert kept on walking," she said. "Then they said 'Have you got $5?' again but in a nasty way. Robert thought there might be some trouble and so began crossing over, but they attacked him in the middle of the street.

"Robert described the handle as being about ten inches long. It cut him — he's got about six gashes on him. He got three gashes on his upper arm, some on his back and one on his stomach."

The pair also got away with Mr. Simpson's wallet, containing credit and debit cards, a drivers' licence and $70 in cash.

"It was a very frightening experience for my husband," said Ms Clarke.

"A man in a car stopped to ask if he was alright but by that time they had run off and he just wanted to get home."

A Police spokesman said: "It appears the suspects asked the victim for money and when he said he had none, they attacked him with a blunt object before removing his wallet containing cash and personal items."

One of the teenagers is described as "bald with small eyes" and the other wore a blue shirt with a gold collar. Any witnesses to the incident are urged to contact the Hamilton Criminal Investigation Unit on 295-0011.