Quick warning - I was assaulted this morning on Dacres Road, not too far from the Dietrich Bonhoffer church.
At about 07;00 a man hit me out of the blue, with no warning or provocation. He knocked me over and kicked me a few times, knocking me back down when I got back up and continuing to punch me. He didn’t try to take anything, and, fortunately, he didn’t cause any real harm.
He was in his mid to late 20s, slim, about 5’10", black, clean shaven (I think, though he’d knocked my glasses off before I got chance to take a proper look at his face), wearing a red furtrapper hat, and a blue jacket.
I got away thanks to a passing motorist stopping and allowing me to get her car between me and the attacker. I didn’t get her name or number , but I’m hugely grateful to her.
I drove around with the police for a bit, but we didn’t spot him - so be careful out there!
Dacres Road assault
Truly harrowing. Very sorry to hear this - I hope the thug is found soon, and I have shared on our social media in the hope that someone has spotted him.
Very sorry to hear about this but glad you shared It. How are you dealing with it? Have you taken the day off? Perhaps you’ll need a lot more time. Is anyone with you? I understand if you do not want to respond further on a public forum but PM me if there is any support you would like.
I’m really sorry to hear of your attack and I hope you’re recovering. I was assaulted on 12th May at around 1700 hrs by someone of the same description on the corner of Dartmouth Rd and Clyde Vale. Police didn’t really investigate as it was far less violent, although I’m sure they could have checked CCTV of the local newsagents around this time as he had a carrier bag similar to those they give out.
Do drop me a line if you want more info to give to the police you’re dealing with. It certainly sounds like the same person.
Sarah
I don’t know if you’re male or female but I want to give you a hug.
I hope you’re okay - and you can get over it soon.
Hi Sarah
If he’s done it to you, but not as violently, it sounds like he may be getting worse, which really makes me worry for his next victim. COuld you send me any more details you’ve got - as well as a crime reference number, and I’ll pass it on to the police?
Thanks
Phil
I saw a man fitting that description heading down Perry Vale an hour ago. He seemed mentally ill.
Paging @SgtBiddle 
Thanks for the heads up. I’ve just spoken to the police again to let them know. As they haven’t generated a crime reference number as yet, they’ve simply added that info to the log of my initial 999 call.
Sounds a lot like the guy I saw cycling slowly up Perry Vale at around 9.30 this morning. Clearly a local.
@jonfrewin What’s the date and time of that post?
I -think- it’s from this morning
It was today nine hours ago, it was a friend who posted it.
6 posts were merged into an existing topic in @ethikos (please opt in to see them)
Feel free to put him or her in touch with me - we might be able to see if it was the same person who attacked me yesterday.
Maybe jumping to the wrong conclusions here - this guy sounds similar to the guy the police tasered in Baxter’s field (i responded to a post on here about that). I thought that guy was perhaps shorter but the crazed look and the knife MO are very similar. If there’s no connection then fine but worth the police cross checking I would say.
@SgtBiddle
I have sent him a link from the forum page and said you would like to get in touch. It’s a scary thought that somebody this dangerous is walking the streets around here.
Fair play to your friend for jumping in.
It’s a terrible state of affairs when people are being mentally and physically scarred for life by others who’ve [presumably] got serious mental health issues and who should not be allowed anywhere near a public place.
I’ve seen TV programs where the police are powerless to keep these unwell people off the streets and it’s left to the mercy of the good old ‘care-in-the-community’.
What a mess!
Any update here please on whether the police have intervened in this case?
They’re chasing up some CCTV to see if they can spot anything, but that’s it so far.
Never mind paging @sgtbiddle. Isn’t this a case worthy of calling 101?
I’m sorry to hear this and hope you and others who’ve been involved are ok. But assault is a crime (stating the obvious, I know), and i’m shocked that the police didn’t fully investigate. Obviously the more violent, the more serious, but that doesn’t mean what happened to you wasn’t serious and upsetting. And from a practical perspective, if they’d followed up your incident a bit more, and assuming all these incidents are related, some of the others could potentially have been prevented.
I’ve got used to the fact that the police don’t treat burglary that seriously round here, but the fact they are now only treating assault seriously if it’s particularly violent is pretty poor.
I hope you are ok.
I think it’s a tough one for them to investigate- without a picture or cctv, it’ll be pretty hard for them to track this guy down.
Police were given several leads. The clear up rate is dismal.
As the person who was assaulted, I’m more aware than most about the leads the police were given, The delay in this actually comes from Lewisham Homes, who have been dragging their feet in handing over CCTV which potentially shows the perpetrator. That’s the only real lead they’ve got to go on in my case.
In case anyone’s interested, the case has been closed. The CCTV system was broken or switched off at the only place we had hoped to get some footage.
Gutted for you.
That’s really not good enough is it, but what can you do, unless he strikes again.
Thanks for keeping us posted.
Really sorry that there hasn’t been any consolation for you though.
It’s unsatisfactory. Thanks for letting us know.
Shocking statistic in this article on the latest crime figures - less than one in ten crimes reported results in someone being charged: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44884113?app=news.uk.story.44884113.page