Stephen Hughes, 52, was assaulted in the early hours of Sunday morning while walking home along Firebrace Street.

He said it was sad people could no longer feel safe in Horsham. 

“Two guys came out of nowhere and wanted to start a fight,” he said.

“They both knocked me over onto my back and the next thing I knew I was getting choked and receiving blows to the head.”

In November, a VicHealth survey showed only 54.4 per cent of Horsham residents felt safe walking at night, below Victoria’s average of 55.1 per cent.

Mr Hughes said police attended the scene and paramedics treated one man for a suspected broken hand. 

Mr Hughes declined police’s offer to press charges against the men but uploaded a video about the incident to Facebook. He was overwhelmed by the response.

“Many people said the same thing – that they were scared to go out for fear of being assaulted,” he said.

“It’s sad the way Horsham is going. I hesitated about putting it up but was blown away by the amount of hits, it’s getting close to 20,000 views.

“I’ve had so many messages, even girls who said they’ve been chased home but never reported it – it really opened my eyes.”

Mr Hughes said he released the video to show people anyone could be a victim.

“People need to realise what’s going on,” he said.

“I’m a big guy and even then I couldn’t defend myself – anyone is vulnerable. I never would have thought I’d have been a victim.”

Mr Hughes said he was lucky to walk away from the assault with a few scrapes and bruises.

“I was lucky my back went over the curb so I didn’t hit my head on the ground,” he said. 

“Eventually they could pick the wrong person and someone could get killed. No one needs that.

“Horsham shouldn’t be like this – it’s sad and disappointing.”

Horsham police Inspector Rebecca Olsen said police could not comment on individual cases but confirmed there was an incident on Saturday night with neither party making a complaint.

She said the Horsham police service area had one of the highest rates of confidence and safety considerations in the state.

Inspector Olsen said there had been no increase in crime reporting. 

She said non-family violence offending had reduced 42 per cent in the Horsham service area and encouraged all residents report any crimes to police.