Mechanic attacked after 'false anonymous review'

Dean Moore is an award winning mechanic

A popular mechanic was assaulted as a result of a negative review posted on social media anonymously, his mother has told the BBC.

An anonymous post criticising Dean Moore, and his work at Deano's Garage in Banbury, was seen by thousands of people on Facebook when it was shared to a local group on 1 April.

Hours later, Mr Moore was assaulted in a local pub, with the attacker allegedly directly referencing the negative review before repeatedly striking the mechanic - leaving him hospitalised.

Thames Valley Police confirmed it was investigating the incident, but said it had not yet made any arrests.

Julie Moore, who is Mr Moore's mother and is responsible for the garage's bookkeeping, said her son had "worked really, really hard" to get the business up and running.

She also said he had previously been recognised with a regional award for young business person of the year.

But a post made anonymously to a local Banbury Facebook group at the start of April slammed Mr Moore's garage, and recent work he had done on a customer's car.

The post was deleted within hours of being shared, but had already been seen by thousands.

"My first thoughts were that it was absolutely disgusting to put in an anonymous post to try and ruin his business," Ms Moore said.

She said what had been posted was "all false", adding: "Anyone can put anything, and that has got to be stopped."

Mr Moore runs Deano's Garage in Banbury

Later that day, Mr Moore was in his local pub with his sister when he was attacked by another man.

Ms Moore said the man had told her son that he "shouldn't rip women off" - in direct reference to the post from earlier that day – before assaulting him.

The attack left Mr Moore temporarily unconscious, and requiring hospital treatment.

Police confirmed it attended The Chatsworth Pub, in Banbury, on the evening of 1 April, where a man in his 20s had been assaulted.

"My son could've died just because of a stupid anonymous post," Ms Moore said.

"There should be rules in place to stop people doing it [anonymously posting] - all of these [social media] sites have got to take responsibility."

The BBC has contacted Facebook's parent company, Meta, for a response to criticism of its anonymous posting features.

More than a week on, Mr Moore has recovered from his injuries, and has received an outpouring of support from the local community.

A post Ms Moore made, to the same group as the original anonymous post, to share her son's situation received more than 1,100 comments of support.

She said the public response had been "absolutely amazing", adding that people her son "doesn't even know" had been dropping "sweets, lager and food" to him since he had returned to work.