Mugging In Melbourne Grove

[PeckhamRose]

Ummmm night busses? They work!

[BlueOne]

Totally agree with Cassius, and won't let fear curtail my life, but I still live a bit of a walk from the night bus to be fair.

[GemmaT]

Very sorry to hear about the attack, and I hope the woman involved is ok. I never feel safe walking around late at night on my own. I always carry a personal alarm around with me espcially when I get off the bus and walk to my house and also get cabs after 12 at night. I call my boyfriend when I get off ths bus so he knows when I will be home. It is sad that I have to do all of this, but it does make me feel slightly safer - espcially having a personal alarm - it is very loud and would hopefully scare an attacker off.

[Smiler]

Really sorry for the person who got hurt, hope they catch the man.

I totally agree with Sue and others about the dangers of "women should not go out at night unaccompanied" lines of thinking: it implies that it is somehow partly victims' fault if they are attacked at night, also that women need protecting more than men, when men are actually much more likely to be the victims of both muggings and violent crime.

I once did a really good self-defence course where the basic message was if they are trying to take material things, let them have them without argument, but if they are trying to hurt you, fight back if you can. In practice, though, how you react in the terrible moment is unpredictable. My 80-odd year old Grandma and her 70-odd year-old toyboy were recently mugged in Spain and they chased and floored the attacker and pinned him down until the Police arrived - not advisable, but it was just what they did in the heat of the moment.

[Mikecg]

Ok try fend off a maniac knife weilding crack head at midnight desperate for a fix and let me know how you get on.

[mlteenie]

I have to say in all seriousness that riding home by bike from a night in town (or anywhere) is safe, extremely pleasurable AND free. That is the reason I got back into riding again twenty years ago - I would hate to travel any other way nowadays.

[steveo]

There were plenty of knifings and beatings in Dulwich 30 years ago when I moved here. Lordship Lane at night was a dangerous place. Some golden age is an illusion.

Here's a quote from Dulwich History and Romance (1922) 'From Dulwich Green the only road going south was known as Back Lane, now the Gallery Road. It led to Dulwich Common and the Northwood, a wild and lawless place of great extent, intersected by many paths and tracks, infested by highwaymen, and unsafe for travellers even down to the beginning of the nineteenth century. In the middle of the eighteenth century complaint was made that "Watchmen notwithstanding, robberies and murders occurred almost every night."'

Let's be careful out there.

[Sue]

Mikecg Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Ok try fend off a maniac knife weilding crack head

> at midnight desperate for a fix and let me know

> how you get on.

xxxxxxx

What a positive contribution to the debate!

So this hypothetical maniac (yeh I've noticed ED is crawling with them) would only target women walking by themselves, then?

[sophiesofa]

Do men really get mugged more than women? I don't know any men that have been mugged but I know quite a few that women who have. I just don't see why a mugger would pick a man to mug over a woman. I think men are more likely to be the victim of some violent crimes because of things like pub arguments etc.

[evelknievel]

Mikecg you seem to be terrifying yourself into quite a state.

You now have 'maniac knife wielding crack heads...desperate for a fix' roaming the streets. I think the crack head desperate for a fix bit is an upgrade on your previous knife wielding maniac post. I thought we were talking about a bag-snatch gone bad. Not a good thing obviously, but lets not get hysterical, it ain't Hamsterdam out there.

Unless the gradual buildup of hysteria in your messages is a subtle comment on the prevalent fear-stoking mood in media, government, and society. In which case, nicely done.

[macroban]

> Here's a quote from Dulwich History and Romance (1922) 'From Dulwich Green the only road going south was known as Back Lane, now the Gallery Road. It led to Dulwich Common and the Northwood, a wild and lawless place of great extent, intersected by many paths and tracks, infested by highwaymen, and unsafe for travellers even down to the beginning of the nineteenth century. In the middle of the eighteenth century complaint was made that "Watchmen notwithstanding, robberies and murders occurred almost every night."'

You need to take Mr Hall with a pinch of salt.

[Sue]

sophiesofa Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Do men really get mugged more than women? I don't

> know any men that have been mugged but I know

> quite a few that women who have. I just don't see

> why a mugger would pick a man to mug over a woman.

> I think men are more likely to be the victim of

> some violent crimes because of things like pub

> arguments etc.

xxxxxxx

My ex was attacked at night by several complete strangers while just walking down the street - in Bristol, not London.

He lay on his back and flung his arms out as if to say "go on, give me a good kicking then."

It completely threw them, and they left without hurting him at all.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Crimestoppers have

this to say

Stats will only go so far of course - if you feel afraid you feel afraid after all. But we have to take responsibility for how we manage fear. If we don't manage it at all we never leave the house. If we leave all our doors and windows wide open on the other hand...

[Administrator]

Title changed from "Stabbing" to "Mugging" to clarify the intent of the incident.

[sophiesofa]

Good for him, and I'm very glad he's alright. My boyfriend got punched on the back of the head and knocked to the ground walking past a bus stop completely minding his own business. My male flatmate got punched in the face walking past a weatherspoons also minding his own business. They both happened in Greenwich which turns into one horrible giant chav celebration on a friday night.

Yes I agree that men are more likely to be victims of completely unprovoked attacks like those above but I think muggings probably (i admit i am of course no expert) occur more frequently therefore women are more slightly more vulnerable when out and about on their own? I am definitely not for people hiding in their own homes, no-one be they a man, woman, elderly or whatever should feel like they're too scared to leave the house but common sense is called for.

[lenk]

evelknievel Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Mikecg you seem to be terrifying yourself into

> quite a state.

>

> You now have 'maniac knife wielding crack

> heads...desperate for a fix' roaming the streets.

> I think the crack head desperate for a fix bit is

> an upgrade on your previous knife wielding maniac

> post. I thought we were talking about a bag-snatch

> gone bad. Not a good thing obviously, but lets not

> get hysterical, it ain't Hamsterdam out there.

>

> Unless the gradual buildup of hysteria in your

> messages is a subtle comment on the prevalent

> fear-stoking mood in media, government, and

> society. In which case, nicely done.

I also see that at last the title of this thread has been downgraded from 'stabbing' to 'mugging' to reflect what actually happened. Well done whoever that was.

EDIT: ah. *points up*

[Brendan]

I think you will find that attacking someone with a knife is attempted murder.

[sophiesofa]

I think it's a mugging and a stabbing lenk seeing as the poor girl was mugged and as a result of it not going to plan stabbed.

[citizenED]

With mike ratcheting up the fear-factor on this I think it is only right to temper it by re-titling the thread. But the friend of the victim did report "..the wound was millimetres from her heart.." Have to admit that sounds like stabbing to me.

[Asset]

I think the OP used 'stabbing' in the title as that is the impression they got having witnessed the aftermath, and before the full details were known - not from any particular scaremongering point of view.

[Loz]

The British Crime Survey 2007/08 is a mass of statistics, but from what I can make out:

- you are roughly twice as likely to be mugged if you are male than female.

- Males 16-24 most likely victims (by a long margin), followed by females 16-24 and males 25-34.

- Those three categories are the real statistical standouts. Interestingly, females 25-34 aren't a particular high-risk group.

Mugged is defined as both robbery and snatch theft. The chances of you being mugged, whatever age or gender, is about 0.7% in any year.

Caveat: This is my translation of a lot of stats. Feel free to dig through them yourself here.

[Mikecg]

evelknievel Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Mikecg you seem to be terrifying yourself into

> quite a state.

>

> You now have 'maniac knife wielding crack

> heads...desperate for a fix' roaming the streets.

> I think the crack head desperate for a fix bit is

> an upgrade on your previous knife wielding maniac

> post. I thought we were talking about a bag-snatch

> gone bad. Not a good thing obviously, but lets not

> get hysterical, it ain't Hamsterdam out there.

>

> Unless the gradual buildup of hysteria in your

> messages is a subtle comment on the prevalent

> fear-stoking mood in media, government, and

> society. In which case, nicely done.

All I want to say on this is, dont kid your self, we live a stones throw from one of the poorest urban inner city areas full of poverty where drugs and crime are rife, How do I know this? because ive lived here for 17 years and in the past three months we have seen some pretty nasty stuff going on which has hit the mainstream media, I'm not bothered either way really I was just pointing out a common sense view that I think is sensible if you are a lone female wandering the streets late at night, A bag snatch gone bad, you must be joking right the woman could have died.

[sophiesofa]

Thanks Loz very interesting

[evelknievel]

Hmm, if it's Peckham you're alluding to - yes, I know it's there, I live there. I like it.

Not sure about the distinction between female and male in this particular instance though. And I don't know that inventing a maniac knife wielding crack addict desperate for a fix is particularly constructive. Why not just make it a serial killer?

I'm not belittling the fact that someone was attacked with a knife here, but I think sticking to what we actually know happened might be a better foundation for dicussion about it.

[lenk]

evelknievel Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm not belittling the fact that someone was

> attacked with a knife here, but I think sticking

> to what we actually know happened might be a

> better foundation for dicussion about it.

Indeed. None of the news reports (and there are very few) mentioned a stabbing. Ok, so I'm lying there. The only hits returned from anything recent when searching 'stabbing+east dulwich' direct you here, to this very forum.

NB Evelkneivel - you're not allowqed to mention Peckham directly - better to refer to 'nearby notorious areas we're all aware of'