This happened last night as I was walking home along eccy rd, just after 5pm. I was opposite Tescos walking towards Hunters Bar n chattin to my mum on my mobile. I didnt see the guy approach me, the first thing I knew about it was when I was punched. He hit me several times before I managed to move away from him.
My main concern at the time was what my mum was hearing on the other end of the phone, didnt like the thought of her hearing her son getting beaten up! As he was hitting me I managed to hang up on me mum and then I turned my attention to the guy.
He was a big black dude bout 6,3, fairly lean with longish dreads. He was dressed pretty scruffily with light denim jeans and jacket on with a white t-shirt underneath. I'm pretty sure he was off his head on as he was ranting random obscenities and looked pretty mashed. He was sayin 'dont f'in look at me like that' and carried on by sayin 'that goes for all of you' - at this point he was looking around trying make eye contact with other people who were on the other side of the road.
I had a bike lock in my hand and I thought about goin in n givin him a good leatherin with it. But I didnt want to be scrapin in the street, I dont think its sensible, respectable or adult thing to do. Plus I didnt know if he had a knife or a needle on him, you just dont know do you.
He was goading me on and obviously wanted to fight but I just tried to calm him down as I took a few big steps backwards. By doing this he seemed to lose his interest in me so I turned away from him and carried on walking - with a few swift looks over my shoulder!
He wasnt trying to mug me or get my mobile, I think he just wanted to fight. I've seen the guy before on eccy rd. Hes often wandering around gibing off and looking generally out of it but I've not had any problems or reasons to speak to him before.
I phoned the police and made a statement but I havent got a witness, there were people around but no one stopped and I didnt speak to anyone, I just went home.

So...

Was anyone around who saw this happen that can be my witness?

or

Has anyone else had any problems with this guy or know of him? If you can let me know I'd appreciate it as it could help the investigation.

Thanks

Dave

Can't help with being a witness but just want to say im so sorry for you, as you said you had to be the calm reasonable one even tho it was you who was being attacked and couldnt really defend yourself due to not knowing if he was carrying anything. Its a sad sorry state of affairs that the innocent have to deal with this kind of attitude. Im sure he would also have claimed some kind of racial abuse if you had tried to defend yourself.

Hope someone can be of help to you :)

Wont offer to be a witness as I wasnt there, but if you want help putting in a criminal injuries claim give me a shout...

So he punched you several times.. and you thought "It's not sensible to fight in the street, so I'll just get my head kicked in" :loopy:

I think I've seen him before, walking past CRB onto Eccy Rd as I was getting into my car. He didn't look at me though.. I guess I'll be more cautious if I see him again.. Although I'll probably choose to run my wheel over his head instead of walking/driving away :)

Dave, that's sad news indeed. What I would recommend is going back to the place it happened and looking around for CCTV. There might not be any 'official' cameras, but a lot of shops and banks have them. Think about the route the guy walked and then look around for any cameras that might have picked him before or after. Every little helps.

Good luck. If you do find out who it was, then remember not to post any further details on here as it could work against you (and the forum!).

I would say theres a great chance some camara has picked this dude up along his route but you can bet the hell the police won't be bothered in looking as it was just another assault one of many that they see everyday.
Regarding having a go back, you probably had sense not to retaliate and I bet he had a weapon on him.
Unless you know your not going to spark this guy out then its not worth the risk.
It sounds to me like a racial attack and this guy has certainly struck before and will do again.
Don't expect to much from the police, the best thing to do is like Geoff said go and find the evidence yourself and give it to the police.
Chances are they already know him.
Good luck mate.

I've seen the guy before but never had any probs.

You seem to be a wimp to me I would have smaked him but not with a bike lock on my hand and by the way why do you have a bike lock on your hand?

And have u never been in a fight before your just wasting police time if you did'nt get anything taken. I think you did look at him and your not telling the full story.

Originally posted by Deadstar
I've seen the guy before but never had any probs.

You seem to be a wimp to me I would have smaked him but not with a bike lock on my hand and by the way why do you have a bike lock on your hand?

And have u never been in a fight before your just wasting police time if you did'nt get anything taken. I think you did look at him and your not telling the full story.

He was set upon randomly without any provocation. To call him a wimp is childish, and fighting back may have made the consequences much worse. Also, since when did "looking at" someone become punishable by a good beating? ABH/GBH, particularly with no provocation, are very much matters for the police.

Originally posted by Deadstar
I've seen the guy before but never had any probs.

You seem to be a wimp to me I would have smaked him but not with a bike lock on my hand and by the way why do you have a bike lock on your hand?

And have u never been in a fight before your just wasting police time if you did'nt get anything taken. I think you did look at him and your not telling the full story. Who gives a toss if he looked at him or not.
Thats not the issue here, are you saying if someone looked at you then you would attack them.:loopy:

did yoy get in touch with victim support??? they will sort you out with panic alarm too

Originally posted by Deadstar
I've seen the guy before but never had any probs.

You seem to be a wimp to me I would have smaked him but not with a bike lock on my hand and by the way why do you have a bike lock on your hand?

And have u never been in a fight before your just wasting police time if you did'nt get anything taken. I think you did look at him and your not telling the full story.


You sound like a nutter to me. Since when should looking at someone be an excuse for them to lay into you...is that how you react to being looked at ? Are we all supposed to walk around staring at the pavement in case some nutter objects to being looked at ?

As you seem to know this bloke be sure to give him a good look next time you see him, then discover how much of a wimp you are :rolleyes:

:D i'm gonna walk around with my eyes closed for the rest of the day in fear of being set upon by mindless chavs.
good on you for not retaliating to this unfortunate incident and hope your bruises heal quick.
theres some scary things happening in the world today!!

True to form the forum speaks with the usual level of predictable mixed opinion. Thanks for the kind words, support and suggestions.

Nat - thanks for the suggestion but I'm not too shaken by the ordeal and I'm not going to let it change my behaviour or out look on life. These things happen. If he was going to kick off with someone I'm glad it was me rather than an woman/OAP/kid as the outcome could have been allot worse.

As to the other thoughts about my lack of retaliation. Yeah, so I could a kicked three shades of the proverbial outta him. I'm a big guy, rugby player with a kick boxing back ground to a competitive level. So I know how to handle myself if it comes to it. It maybe that he took a disliking to me because of my size, I dont know. However, its not my style to go around scrapin in the street. Yeah I was attacked and the guy who did it deserve to have his legs cut off and to be stood in a bucket a vinegar. But me retaliating would have only made the situation worse.

Dead star, how old are? In fact that dont matter, its maturity that your lacking buddy. The situation is never going to be the Jackie Chan scene you rehearse in your head and practise in your bedroom. A wimp, far from it. Proud of my ability to keep my cool and try to calm the situation down, defiantly. And as for calling me a liar - suggesting that in some way I deserve it maybe your on the same drugs as the wacko that attacked me....

Thanks again for your comments, I'm gonna check out security cameras tomorrow.

Dave

dwhembro, congratulations for keeping your cool! It takes a bigger man to walk away.

I worked in Dikkins on carver st until it closed down and have seen endless unprovoked beatings take place, and, as mentioned before alot of the people involved do carry offensive weapons. Most of the time they pick on innocent people and don't give a flying f**k man, woman or child who they attack. It may well have just saved your life to walk away!!!!

I wish more people were like you and tried to avoid violence rather than create it.

What a shame we don't have more police around on our streets then this sort of thing wouldn't happen in the first place.

A lot of space on this forum has been used to attack Paedophiles and I can see why, but lets also recognise the type of people who commit attacks like this are the scum of the earth.

but if you comment on it , you'll get painted as being racist or over reacting. Still that area is known for this sort of thing and it always pays to go tooled up just in case.

Originally posted by Internetowl
but if you comment on it , you'll get painted as being racist or over reacting. Still that area is known for this sort of thing and it always pays to go tooled up just in case.

Are you saying Ecclesall Road is known for unprovoked attacks??

The sort of people who go round beating people up for no reason can be any colour or race, so if you comment on it as being only certain races that do it, then people would rightly have a go at you.

As for being tooled up just in case, in my opinion that makes you no better than the attackers.

Originally posted by Internetowl
but if you comment on it , you'll get painted as being racist or over reacting. Still that area is known for this sort of thing and it always pays to go tooled up just in case.

Excellent idea! next step lets legalise guns so we can have the same safety record as the U.S.

I take it you live in a castle or something if you find ecclesall road dangerous.

I'll hold short of describing your post as idiotic; wouldn't want to cause offence.

Originally posted by Deadstar
I've seen the guy before but never had any probs.

You seem to be a wimp to me I would have smaked him but not with a bike lock on my hand and by the way why do you have a bike lock on your hand?

And have u never been in a fight before your just wasting police time if you did'nt get anything taken. I think you did look at him and your not telling the full story. ????? Perhaps you've seen him shaving?????

Originally posted by Internetowl
but if you comment on it , you'll get painted as being racist or over reacting. Still that area is known for this sort of thing and it always pays to go tooled up just in case.

Bringing a weapon to a fight is a sure way to ensure that you get hurt. Always consider that if an assailant manages to get the weapon off you then he will turn around and use it against you.

The number 1 best response to any unexpected attack will be and has always been to run away as soon as you can. Leave your pride behind.

This might sound condescending but I'll say it all the same: "If you're carrying a weapon then you're looking for trouble."

Originally posted by Internetowl
but if you comment on it , you'll get painted as being racist or over reacting. Still that area is known for this sort of thing and it always pays to go tooled up just in case.


What on earth are you talking about? Ecclesall Rd is predominantly a student area and considering the amount of bars and pubs along the road there is barely any trouble at all, let alone "this sort of thing" (i.e. unprovoked, serious assault). Going around "tooled up" is also a bad idea, partly because by doing so you're breaking the law and partly because they could nick your tools off you or have their own bigger tool..... :o

Winding in fast - I was taking the ****. However from my ivory tower it has been known for their to be the odd spot of bother from time to time on Eccy road - down near the Pomona? and that delightful area across the road. Is that not still classed as Eccy road are you segregating it at the shopping centre place.

Net's full off to cook my catch.

OK so Eccy Rd has the odd tustle, but not at 5 in the afternoon/evening.

Usually people staggering out of bars and the like.

In fact it has a reputation for RTA`s, so next time you see him, perhaps size up a good vehicle for him to crawl under while it is moving?

The worst thing is that nobody tried to interviene and help drag the obvious nutter away from you.. Its a sad world we live in these days. If I had been there or even at the other side of the road I would have tried to assist somehow. how can people just walk past an incident like this is beyond me, but it seems to happen more and more these days.

Sorry to hear about the incident, unprovoked attacks annoy me more than anything.
As for the comments about the police not really caring and it's 'just another assault' - don't be so stupid, the police take any assault very seriously and always do as much as they possibly can.

Sounds to me like you did the right thing. By fighting back you could have proveked him further and he didn't sound like a balanced type of guy, and you would have probably come off worse than you did.

Hope you are ok and that your poor mum is OK too.

It saddens me to think that no one else came to help you out. It must have been quite busy on Ecclesall road at that time. I once saw a gang of youths set about one guy on london road. I quickly steered my car up onto the pavement between them and him almost running into them. It stopped them, and I told the guy to run. They then all came up to my car and started shouting obsceneties at me. At this point I'm afraid my adrenalin kicked in and I sat there and shouted back at them "come on then, what are you going to do?" Not very wise although they did nothing. I didn't move until they did.

I really don't like violence and can't bear to see it happen. I'm afraid I get a little "ten men" though when I do and hope that my 5ft 5" and angry face bravado puts them off.

"I would say theres a great chance some camara has picked this dude up along his route " - CycleRacer

Are there cameras on Eccy Road?

I wish there were.

Granma.

Originally posted by Andy78
Excellent idea! next step lets legalise guns so we can have the same safety record as the U.S.

I take it you live in a castle or something if you find ecclesall road dangerous.

I'll hold short of describing your post as idiotic; wouldn't want to cause offence. theres a county somewhere in the usa where everyone as to own a hand gun ,and its got one of the lowest crime rates......and as for race 4 out of 5 shootings are black on black in usa.

Originally posted by deadgobby
theres a county somewhere in the usa where everyone as to own a hand gun ,and its got one of the lowest crime rates......and as for race 4 out of 5 shootings are black on black in usa.

well thats convinced me! Guns for all white people please....

dwhembro

What exactly did the Police say about your attack? Whilst I'm sorry to hear about this, something about this does not add up. If this guy has just attacked you for no reason at all, witnesses or not, he needs arresting even if it's to find out why he did it and at least to get his name down on record for the next time it happens. Who's to say the next person he decides to attack next time might be more seriously hurt ...or that person he attacks is carrying a knife?

Originally posted by deadgobby
theres a county somewhere in the usa where everyone as to own a hand gun ,and its got one of the lowest crime rates......and as for race 4 out of 5 shootings are black on black in usa.

Pointless piece of information really.

and as for race 4 out of 5 shootings are black on black in usa.]

I don't see your point; how is that good?

Originally posted by Andy78

I don't see your point; how is that good?

I think that what he's trying to say is that guns are associated with "gang culture", and this is, whether you'd like to admit it or not, predominantly black. This is particularly true in America, but is becoming increasingly true in England - you need only look at the race of all the recent gun incidents in Birmingham and Nottingham to realise that.

Originally posted by deadgobby
theres a county somewhere in the usa where everyone as to own a hand gun ,and its got one of the lowest crime rates......and as for race 4 out of 5 shootings are black on black in usa.

There might be very little crime, but i bet there are a lot of gun deaths (It is also a quiet little town, and small town America has very little crime anyway). You are far more likely to be harmed with a gun by accident in America than by a criminal. Low crime doesn't mean you are safe.

Come on people, don't 'hijack' this thread with a general discussion of race and/or the issue of guns in the USA. If you want that discussion then get your own thread - in the relevant forum.

Well, sounds like this bloke was either off his head on something, or mentally unstable. Either way, the police could do something about it if they found him on the street acting this way.

I don't think Ecclesall Rd is dangerous, but i know there have been quite a lot of attacks around there. A school friend of mine was stabbed behind there, a school friend of my sisters was stabbed and murdered at hunters bar, there have been quite a few attacks on women in that area as well, as i remember there were often posters up at uni warning girls not to walk alone at night around Ecclesall Rd.

Originally posted by andywatton
Sorry to hear about the incident, unprovoked attacks annoy me more than anything.
As for the comments about the police not really caring and it's 'just another assault' - don't be so stupid, the police take any assault very seriously and always do as much as they possibly can. Yeah right, thats why I'm waiting for the police right now on behalf of a complaint i put in about a crime that happened to me to David Blunketts office recently.
They did nothing to help me despite me handing them the criminals address and description on a plate for them.
I complained to Blunkett and now the police are running scared and want to talk to me urgently.
Pity they never did that at the time of the crime.
Oh and there two hours late, and I'm still waiting for them.

Originally posted by andywatton
Sorry to hear about the incident, unprovoked attacks annoy me more than anything.
As for the comments about the police not really caring and it's 'just another assault' - don't be so stupid, the police take any assault very seriously and always do as much as they possibly can.

So, the police take any assault seriously etc..... Some years ago a young teenager was assaulted at Hunters Bar. The police came to his house and said they would be doing nothing because they had more important things to investigate - they may have been right but it didn't give out much of an impression. They said if anyone ever found out any information though we should ring them.

A week later I spoke to a kid in the area who told me the attacker was the kid's brother and 'he's always doing that'.

I rang the same police officer to give him the info. Would you believe 2 of them came round within minutes to arrest me for impersonating a police officer! I reminded them where the front door was and they took the hint and left.

I'm afraid I was not impressed with either their efforts or their attitude.

Just a story that might provide an alternative motive for the attack.

My mate, his bro and his father run a scrapyard. They got a call asking for the price of a part. Price given, part removed ready for when the guy turned up.

Guy turned up, said he wasn't paying agreed amount. was politely told that was the price. Guy gets aggressive. The father leads him out of the office and points to the gate.

The bloke then goes round the side of the offices. The father tells he son to go and see what he was upto and take the digital camera to use as evidence if anything did happen. As soon as the bloke see's him he charges at him "like a bull" arms swinging. Lets say it finished with the bloke being thrown out of the premises with a black eye.

10 mins later the police arrive and the Father and Son are arrested. It was all looking like they would be charged with assault until the police questioned 2 guys of the same race as the bloke who where not regulars at the yard (independant witnesses) and another copper at the station recognised the bloke.

His story was that he was an illegal immigrant that was about to be deported. So He prevokes somebody to attack him. This then goes to court. Whilst he his due to appear He cannot be deported. Gets another 6 months in Britain.

Just signed up to forum.

Very sorry to hear about the attack Dave, but you should be proud of the way you handled the situation. I had a similar (but nowhere near as serious) incident a few weeks ago when some drugged up nutter tried to get into my car on Arundel Gate. I'm sure he wasnt a thief, I'm sure there was no intrinsic motive, he was just out of it.

Doesn't it make you sick, I mean REALLY sick, that you have to be wary walking down somewhere like Ecclesall Road at 5pm?!

I hope you get the CCTV footage you need and it leads to at least one nutter being taken off the streets - I know it won't cure all Sheffield's ills but I guess when faced with something as enormous as street crime you've got to thank heavens for small mercies.

Chin up mate and good luck.

So far......

I've got me head round what happened and I'm glad to say it hasn’t bothered me that much, sleepin fine, happy walking down the street etc.

Went to the cop shop yesterday for injury photos ( I've got a cracking black eye) and also to the hospital for a medical report. Not heard from the police since making the statement, going to chase it up if they've not contacted me by the end of the week. The woman who took my statement was nice and sympathetic but didnt exactly instil me with confidence in the ability our bobbies to catch, arrest and convict. We'll wait and see.

I've been to a few places on eccy rd askin about CCTV but no joy yet, gonna carry on trying this afternoon.

It seems that most people I speak to have seen this guy, I guess its hard to miss a 6 foot black dude who walks down the road shouting! Seems he's got a mental health problem (no sh*&t). Every one seems to agree that he could do with sectioning, psycho therapy, a hug, a role model or something else that'll straighten him out.

I'm Getting bored of answering the 'how'd you get that shiner mate?' question. Find a single word reply works best. 'Rugby'.

Thanks for all the PM advice and help, I'll post any further developments. In the mean time stay safe guys, its a crazy world out there!

This place is on eccy road...just past....er....a pub, was the slug and fiddle, forget the name now? opposite the nursert anyway/

It says it has 24 hr cctv. Maybe worth asking there.

Good luck mate.

http://209.207.159.230/html/locations/centre.asp?centre_id=113&agent=1

Unfortunately I don't think CCTV would be any help unless the police are seriously involved and they demand to see footage. Data Protection Act and all that ie most private businesses will hide behind this to avoid the legal can of worms that would be opened by handing over tapes to Joe Public. You're only chance is if you're on the tape with him. You have the right to see footage of yourself.

No where near as serious but has anyone ever tried to get car park footage after finding your car's been damaged? Not a chance. Same lame arguments.

And BTW he hangs around Spar at Hunters Bar.

If you have a mobile phone with picture taking then you could always take his picture if you see him again, but hide in a shop or something?

Originally posted by Mooseyb
Wont offer to be a witness as I wasnt there, but if you want help putting in a criminal injuries claim give me a shout...

Are you suggesting some sort of claim on the taxpayer?

dwhembro was attacked and is more interested in a conviction that a claim. You're suggestion stinks.

Like the age old saying - 'where there's no blame there's sometimes a claim where there's a greedy solicitor willing to prostitute his career for personal gain'

dwhembro, well done for walking away and looking for witnesses. Hope you find something / somewone to take this nutter off the streets.