At around 5:20pm this evening (i.e. a few minutes ago) a man was assaulted on the Ha'penny Hatch just on the Deptford side of the bridge. I presume it was a mugging. Two black men, dark clothing, hoodies, were seen cycling off over the bridge towards Greenwich. No lights.
If anybody was in the vicinity and saw these two men on bikes, or saw anything suspicious, please contact the Police and give them whatever information you have.
There's a saying that lightning never strikes twice but, true or not, please be careful, keep your eyes and ears open and be aware.
That's quite strange: on Wednesday night around 9, I saw 3 x WPCSOs standing around on the Ha'penny Hatch, chatting, as if they were waiting for something to happen.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, there has been a heightened police profile on the bridge. There even were PCOs around earlier on the evening of the mugging, but but they weren't there when they were needed, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteThat suggests there may have been an incident earlier in the week, don't you think? Why else would they suddenly be in our area for the first time in ages?!
ReplyDeleteYou may be right, Anon, but no one seems to have heard anything through the grapevine. It's also possible, though unlikely, that police had some intelligence about the Ha'penny Hatch being the next possible location for muggers to begin operating in.
ReplyDeleteI emailed them last week to ask if they had any statistics for crime and antisocial behaviour on the high street...no reply at all, not even an acknowledgement...
ReplyDeleteGrrrr. Upsetting and annoying to read - especially for this black person who lives spitting distance away from the Hatch.
ReplyDeleteI hope the victim was not seriously hurt, and the scum didn't get anything from him.
Actually, I also wish that in escaping the men had cycled straight under one of the scaffolding lorries, but perhaps that's a bit harsh.
The bikes indicate typical M.O.: travelling from as far away as Woolwich or Charlton to victimise people, in the hope that they can retain anonymity by crapping in someone else's backyard.
Better lighting along the Hatch might well help improve security.