Mugging Experience

At 1945 hours on Feb. 15 2007 I paid for a bag of groceries at the Tesco supermarket at Five Ways. I know it was exactly this time because it was confirmed by the time on the sales receipt.

 

Approximately 2 minutes  later I left the superstore and started to walk through the Five Ways concourse and then proceeded to walk past the HSBC bank at the Five Ways Shopping Centre, down Islington Row, crossed the road at the major traffic lights there and then turned right into George Road.

 

As I was walking down George Road on the left pavement ( sidewalk ) in the direction of St James Road I became aware for the first time of two black men on the opposite (right) pavement walking in my direction.

 

One man who I will call Mr A. crossed the road and came towards me. I remember there was a street light at this point and I slowed down and allowed him to walk ahead of me. At this point of time Mr A was wearing a loose hood and he walked down the left pavement ( sidewalk ) and after proceeding a few metres made a sharp left into an alley left of the office building of Walker and Cotter. As I walked by this alley I made a quick glance in that direction and could see nobody in the alley!

 

Meanwhile the other man who I will call Mr B was walking down the right pavement. After passing the alley a light coloured medium sized car moving down George Road in my direction stopped in the middle of the road and the male white driver opened the passenger door and asked me “ Are you all right?” In reply I said, “ I just saw a black lad go into one of the office alleys! “ The driver then said, “ Do you want a lift?” I looked down George Road in the direction of the alley and could not see Mr A so I said to the driver, “ No, I will be OK, thank you!”

 

The only other things of significance I could remember about the car was that it seemed to have a large number of orange display lights on the dashboard and it was an X reg vehicle.

 

As I arrived at the end of George Road at the junction of St James Road  I made a left turn and Mr B was still on the right pavement (sidewalk) but walking in the opposite direction.

 

As I walked down St James Road after some time I became aware of these two men again walking in my direction and once again one on one pavement and the other man on the other.  Occasionally I could hear their voices as we were walking down St James. We crossed Wheeley’s Road and these men were still following me. At West House School I quickened my walk and shortly thereafter I took my THINSULATE black wooley hat ( tuk ) off temporarily as I prayed to the Lord to help me.

 

When I was part way down Charlotte Road ( next to the church/ apartment complex ) Mr A crossed the road towards me and remarked, “ Why are you walking faster? … have you anything for me?” I took out of my left coat pocket a plastic bag with approximately £5.00 ( $ 6.00 US ) in loose change … pound, silver and bronze coins. I gave it to him. At this time I believe he removed my wool hat and said, “ Why have you got your hand in your pocket?” Also the other man Mr B moved towards me on my left side and shoved something into my side (below my rib cage). I can’t remember what Mr B said but it was some sort of threat. They put their hands in my coat and trouser pockets and took out my Sony Erikkson mobile phone ( no: 07849 757088 ), wallet, keys and bus pass.

 

At about this time I started to shout out with a loud voice,” LORD, HELP ME!”.  Mr A said, “ why are you doing that?”

 

Mr A inspected my wallet and there was no notes in it so he threw it on the ground. At that time the two men left me and walked back up the hill towards the junction of Elvetham and Charlotte Road (in the opposite direction in which we had been walking). As I was picking up my wallet, bus pass and keys I noticed the two men were near this junction.

 

Also a very short time after as I looked in the opposite direction I noticed a police car at the junction of Ryland and Charlotte Road. I crossed the road to where the patrol car was stopped and explained to the driver that I had been mugged. He let me into the back of the car; the time was now 20:09 hours.

 

We then drove back up the hill to the junction of Elvetham and Charlotte Road. At this point we could not see the men so the policeman drove up to the next junction, that of St James and Wheeley’s Road. At this junction there was a second police vehicle and as we passed by it in the car the police there were questioning two black men. I told the police that I was 90% certain these were the men who mugged me.

 

Shortly thereafter the police driver said to me, “ Hold on, Michael!” We were now driving at very high speed down Wheeley’s Road and then made a sharp right into West Green Close.  At the end of this cul de sac the police jumped out and proceeded to climb over a garden fence at the end of the street.

 

It appeared that one of the suspects the police had locked up in a vehicle but the other had done “a runner” into this area, climbed the fence into the back gardens next to the canal. After a few minutes the police helicopter was circling overhead and police dogs were brought into the area.

 

Meanwhile I was sitting in the back of the police car watching the proceedings and talking to a police community officer.

 

Later I discovered that police and their vehicles were located at various locations around the area. I also learned that barbwire was on the garden fence and the police used special gloves  which could not penetrate the hands to climb over it! On February 15 the suspect who had done “the runner” and climbed the fence had not been apprehended.

 

Later I went to my flat and there gave statements to two police officers. This documentation finished about 12 midnight.

 

On February 16 at approximately 9.00 am I went to have a brief walk around the crime scene. I found the empty plastic bag (which previously contained the £5.00 in change) apparently thrown over a fence into the grounds of the church/ apartment complex about 25 metres up the hill on Charlotte Road from where I had been mugged.

 

Also on St James and Charlotte Road I noticed several coins in the gutter and on the pavement.

 

In the afternoon I went over to Ladywood Police station to try and identify one of the suspects. I was ushered into a room in which were sitting 2 police inspectors and a woman lawyer representing the suspect. I was shown videos of 9 different young black males. At the end of the proceedings I said, “ I can’t make a positive ID! “

 

In conclusion, at the time of writing I understand the police  have one suspect in custody and I believe they know the identity of the other. One man (Mr A) is about 5ft 10in in height and the other about 6ft. Both are black and medium build; ages about 20.

 

There was one witness who came forward to the police … the white male driver with the X reg car whom I met on George Road.

 

In the mugging I lost my mobile phone, about £ 5:00 in cash, a black wooley hat and one right- handed black and green leather glove. I am thankful to the LORD in particular that I was not physically hurt and also that the police were literally on the scene just after the incident.

 

 

 

 

Michael

Feb.17, 2007