mugging along lordship lane

[wondergirl]

Unfortunately I witnessed a violent mugging on the Easter weekend. This happenend on Saturday 11 April along Lordship Lane at 3.30 am. I have the exact time as this was the time that I called the police and ambulance. I saw this from nearby as I was walking up Lordship lane with a friend. There was a man at the cashpoints in ED at the HSBC and he was taking out just ?10. He was then kicked and punched (one after the other by the different thugs) and hit over the head whith an empty bottle of beer. He was almost kicked unconscious. 4 men attacked him 3 black one white. Luckily the man in question was ok but was only just conscious when I found him and had a very bad cut to his head. Everyone, PLEASE be careful and try not to take cash out late at night! It sounds obvious but after a few beers everyone does it (takes cash out I mean, not violently mug !) It was disgusting to watch and it all happened in about 10 seconds flat.

[kford]

Surely a job for Wondergirl...

[SeanMacGabhann]

it took 170 views before someone bit .. impressive

[PeckhamRose]

Well done to you for taking note of the muggers and calling the police and not just running away / walking by.

[seanmlow]

This is very scary! Poor guy.

I try and avoid withdrawing money at that time, but sometimes it is tough. My bro used to managed west london restaurants so would get home very late, often stopping in at Payless for some beers. He often said he felt a little vulnerable.

[cate]

I once witnessed a violent mugging at the HSBC cashpoint at 11 am on a weekday. A woman was withdrawing ?30 and one of two men behind her stuck a screwdriver into her ribs to make her drop the money. They then both ran off round the corner and got into a stolen car. Not something you would expect to see on a weekday. I also called the police. There was also a spate of them in the early morning, ie. 630 -7 am outside Barclays. People off to work early were being targeted by a specific gang and I believe the police laid a trap and caught them. Wonder how many of the cash points have overhead cameras.

[lenk]

Hoe does everyone on this thread know the amounts of money that were being taken out?

[HonaloochieB]

If it happened then sorry for you if you were the victim, and well done WG.

[BigPhil]

lenk Wrote:

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> How does everyone on this thread know the amounts

> of money that were being taken out?

Thats what I was thinking as well ....

[Sue]

Well both of the people who have mentioned amounts of money called the police, and appear to have spoken to the victims, so, er, I guess that is how they knew :)

[lindylou]

very sorry to hear what happened to you. Hope you are ok now. but, and i have said this before, you need to become streetwise in south london. Don't go out aftser dark alone, always use a reputable cab firm home, even if you are with a partner. However, having said that it is a rare occurence and not e veryone is bad.

[Sue]

lindylou Wrote:

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> very sorry to hear what happened to you. Hope you

> are ok now. but, and i have said this before, you

> need to become streetwise in south london. Don't

> go out aftser dark alone,

xxxxx

Oh come on, that's just scaremongering!

Are you saying you shouldn't go out alone in December after 4.30pm, when it gets dark?

Yes you need to be streetwise, but don't go out after dark alone?

Words fail me actually. I never realised I should be housebound after dusk :-$

[Josh]

lindylou Wrote:

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> However, having said that it is a rare occurence

> and not e veryone is bad.

there's seems to be a lot violent crime discussed on this forum. Not just muggings but violent burglaries and murders as well. I don't think ED is typical of London in this respect, I think it's worse than average.

[lindylou]

Sue, I am not scaremongening at all. merely stating some good old london common sense. What you sAID ABOUT THE MONTH OF DECEMBER DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. don't know where you originate from but please get a grip on reality and frankly open your eyes.

[Sherwick]

Sue made sense to me. In December it gets dark at about 4.30pm. Therefore, should she not go out after that?

Also, I lived in North London for 20+ years - it's the same up there as down here believe it or not.

[Sue]

lindylou Wrote:

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> Sue, I am not scaremongening at all. merely

> stating some good old london common sense. What

> you sAID ABOUT THE MONTH OF DECEMBER DOESN'T MAKE

> SENSE. don't know where you originate from but

> please get a grip on reality and frankly open your

> eyes.

xxxxx

I originate from South London. I was born and brought up in Streatham.

I think I've got quite a good grip on reality actually.

It gets dark early in December.

Thanks for the advice but I will continue to go out by myself after dark in East Dulwich.

:))

[DeptfordDiva]

Ahhh, so Sue goes out after dark!!! Well its obvious to me then, Sue is the mugger:)

[Sue]

Don't want to get heavy but actually this started out as a serious thread

[Huguenot]

Josh, you can find crime data at the met police here.

ED is less than average.

In violent crimes such as robbery and assault it's less than half the average.

[Cassius]

Crime happens anywhere - perhaps this forum makes us more aware of it - certainly if I didn't read it I wouldn't have known about these muggings.

As for staying in after dark - surely that would just release the streets for the criminals. What we need is more people out and about, and as the second mugging happened at 11.00AM it seems a tad irrelevant.

I hope all the victims are recovering from their ordeals.

[cate]

Regarding my posting, I knew how much money had been stolen as the female victim told me. She kept saying, 'It was only 30 pounds'. It seemed shocking to me too. A screwdriver can be a lethal weapon. It has made me very aware who is around and behind me while at cash points. I prefer to get cash back inside shops if possible, but not Somerfields.

[sophiesofa]

Sadly it does happen everywhere and if someone tries to mug you the best thing to do (unless you have a shotgun in your handbag) to do is just give them the money. I think common sense is called for but sometimes you just get unlucky no matter how cautious you are and it's not worth living in fear.

[wondergirl]

Hi

I know the amount of cash because I spoke to the victim afterwards. The point was that you can be mugged for such a small amount of ?10. Obviously it took a while for the man (victim)to say anything as he was in shock and his speech was slurred as he was almost knocked unconscious. It was a question I asked just to get more info about what had happened and to keep him talking so that I could check how serious his injuries were (obviously if he hadn't responded coherently to a question he may have been more seriously injured). We also gave a lot of deatils to police and he mentioned that he took out only ten pounds.

Thanks also to Cate for pointing out the early morning muggings as I do pass by these cash points myself early morning on my way to work.

It would have been impossible to ignore this man who could have been bleeding to death on the road for all I knew until I approached him- he was actually lying in the road near the kerb so I immediately moved him off the road (after checking that his brain wasn't falling out, my first aid training came in handy). This wasn't easy lifting a man being female. How anyone could walk past this kind of scene is beyond me, I guess that the adrenaline kicked in and it was my natural reaction to respond to the situation before me. I didn't think about anything other than going over to help the man. I did of course make sure that the muggers had left before I went over as I suppose they may have attacked me as well who knows. In response also to Cate, and the fact that this witness also knew the ammount stolen, when someone is attacked they will be in shock afterwards and so repeating the fact she was mugged for ?30 and trying to make sense of something is a natural reaction when in shock.

It was an unusually quiet night along Lordship Lane that night as many people had left town for the weekend and no one else was around in that few minutes when the attack happened so I immediately went over to the man. This could happen to anyone of us at any point. Love thy neighbour....

[JohnL]

You can't stay in after dark

I won't live my life like that - I like a pint or 3

[sophiesofa]

Good on you wondergirl