My partner got mugged earlier tonight on Sydenham Hill as he was walking down Wells Park Road. They punched him in the face, pushed him to the ground and stole his mobile....all this for a bloody mobile!!
Has this ever happened to someone else? Very few people getting off at Sydenham Hill station walk up the lane leading to where Dulwich Wood House is at this time of the day...so they targeted him.
I also want to warn everyone to be vigilant when they walk alone when it is dark.
Mugging Sydenham Hill
Shit... Sorry to hear about this... I walk around that part a lot, but never had any trouble. I hope your partner is okay... You mentioned Dulwich Wood House... Was it right at the top of Wells Park Road then? My mother used to work in Dulwich Wood House during the 80s; she started work there just after a horrific incident occured involving the landlady/bar attendant, but I dare not repeat the details. Anyway, I've always been a bit weary of that pub/area and only went there for the first time a couple of weeks ago. How many people mugged your partner? What time was it? Can you describe them? I better be careful on my walkabouts... thanks for the warning, but sorry to hear what happened.
Just to say I normally walk up to (and more importantly down *from*) the DWH without a problem. Maybe my time on dodgy streets of New York helped me develop a speedy and assertive walking style which makes me a less attractive target. But I did once get mugged in Dulwich itself!
Sadly the apparently deliberate obscurantism in the Met Police's publication of crime statistics makes objective assessment of personal risk on Sydenham's streets nigh impossible - and I am a trained statistician! Which means we have to rely on personal experience to assess risk which, as you can see here is often inconsistent and contradictory. This is very unsatisfactory.
We have been promised better information - but it never arrives. Unlike in Chicago where crime is taken more seriously and the residents have this amazing website: http://www.chicagocrime.org/
Stuart
Sadly the apparently deliberate obscurantism in the Met Police's publication of crime statistics makes objective assessment of personal risk on Sydenham's streets nigh impossible - and I am a trained statistician! Which means we have to rely on personal experience to assess risk which, as you can see here is often inconsistent and contradictory. This is very unsatisfactory.
We have been promised better information - but it never arrives. Unlike in Chicago where crime is taken more seriously and the residents have this amazing website: http://www.chicagocrime.org/
Stuart
Seb
Sorry to hear about your partner being attacked. Since your partner was attacked on Wells Park road and not the path down to the station I am wondering why you mention that particular path?
I walk up and down that path to Sydenham Hill Station that you mention pretty much every day. I will go up there at any time of day or night, regardless of whether other people are walking up there or not. My attitude is that I refuse to let fear of being attacked (which can happen anywhere) affect what I do. Other people can think/ do what they like.
Sorry to hear about your partner being attacked. Since your partner was attacked on Wells Park road and not the path down to the station I am wondering why you mention that particular path?
I walk up and down that path to Sydenham Hill Station that you mention pretty much every day. I will go up there at any time of day or night, regardless of whether other people are walking up there or not. My attitude is that I refuse to let fear of being attacked (which can happen anywhere) affect what I do. Other people can think/ do what they like.
Falkor, thanks for your reply...My partner is okay. I was pretty shocked when it happened. To reply to your questions, two guys mugged him around 9.45pm on Wells Park Road.
What shocked us most was that the two guys were disturbed by a 202 bus driving up the hill. He managed to stop it to ask for assistance, and the bus driver replied that the incident did not happen on his bus and could not do anything, all this with him having blood all over his face. The bus then drove away...not even thinking of using his own mobile...it is very sad that we now live in a society where human beings are not trying to help their fellow human beings.
TFl also told us that the driver could not do anything, whereas the police officers who came around said that every bus was equipped with direct connection to the police. So why has he not done so??
Stuart, Juwlz: you are right in saying that one can get mugged anywhere, but especially where there are not many souls around. When I come back late from work, I have noticed many times that I was the only one to walk up the hill and down Wells Park Road.
These two guys were waiting on Sydenham Hill and could have well attacked someone leaving Dulwich Wood House.
Seb
What shocked us most was that the two guys were disturbed by a 202 bus driving up the hill. He managed to stop it to ask for assistance, and the bus driver replied that the incident did not happen on his bus and could not do anything, all this with him having blood all over his face. The bus then drove away...not even thinking of using his own mobile...it is very sad that we now live in a society where human beings are not trying to help their fellow human beings.
TFl also told us that the driver could not do anything, whereas the police officers who came around said that every bus was equipped with direct connection to the police. So why has he not done so??
Stuart, Juwlz: you are right in saying that one can get mugged anywhere, but especially where there are not many souls around. When I come back late from work, I have noticed many times that I was the only one to walk up the hill and down Wells Park Road.
These two guys were waiting on Sydenham Hill and could have well attacked someone leaving Dulwich Wood House.
Seb
No consolation but Wells Park Road has a bad reputation.......see my posting 27 May 2006
see:- http://forum.sydenham.org.uk/viewtopic. ... db208e205b
see:- http://forum.sydenham.org.uk/viewtopic. ... db208e205b
it really isnt that bad,ive lived at 3 different addresses around that area throughout my life and ive never felt unsafe in that area,there are lots of places in sydenham that i would be cautious walking in alone,but that isnt one of them.
hope your partner is ok and i think the attitude of the bus driver stinks.
hope your partner is ok and i think the attitude of the bus driver stinks.