Police have made a second arrest in connection with an attack in Leicester Market which left a man critically ill in hospital.
A 29-year-old man was seriously injured in the incident, near to the Yorkshire Bank, at about 12.20pm on Monday.
The man left the scene before police arrived and at around 2.30pm he collapsed inside a shop in Belgrave Gate.
He remains in hospital in a critical condition.
Earlier today a 19-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident.
Police announced tonight a second man, aged 18, has also been arrested in connection with the incident. Both remain in police custody.
The victim remained in hospital last night where his condition was said to be critical despite undergoing emergency surgery within hours of the attack.
A number of shoppers and stall-holders watched as two men repeatedly kicked the victim as he lay helpless on the ground in Market Place, near the Yorkshire and Santander banks, at 12.20pm.
Police were called to the scene but all three men had disappeared by the time officers arrived.
Police said the two suspects were black.
The injured man, who is white and was wearing an orange top, reportedly staggered away from the scene and collapsed in a shop in Belgrave Gate two hours later.
A Belgrave Gate business owner said he watched as the paramedics treated the man in the back of an ambulance before a decision was taken to send him to a specialist trauma unit at the University of Coventry Hospital.
The businessman said: "The ambulance was there for, probably, 20 minutes before they took the poor man off to hospital.
"I just hope he makes a full recovery and that whoever did this to him is caught and sent to prison.
"Whatever the reason, there is no excuse for attacking someone so violently."
Witnesses in Market Place said the victim was lying on the ground being kicked by two men.
A stall-holder told the Leicester Mercury on Tuesday: "It was the middle of the day, so there was a lot of people around but nobody was prepared to intervene to help the man.
"He was on the ground and the men were kicking him in the head. It was horrible.
"I can't believe they thought they could get away with doing this in the middle of the day.
"The man got up and walked away. You could tell he was injured because he had blood on his face."
Police have appealed for witnesses to the assault to come forward.
Officers have visited the market and Belgrave Gate in the search for people who saw the man before, during or after the attack.
They have not released his name, but have said he was wearing an orange top.
Contact the Force Serious Crime Team at Leicestershire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, which is anonymous, on 0800 555 111
