73-Year-Old Man Shields Wife From London Knife Attack–With a Suitcase

73-Year-Old Man Shields Wife From London Knife Attack–With a Suitcase
By
9/25/2017
Updated:
9/26/2017

No one seems to know how to tackle London’s latest crime wave. A spate of attacks in broad daylight by “moped gangs” have left police scratching their heads, and left the public worried.

But when a 73-year-old man saw his wife being attacked by a knife-wielding moped gang he responded instinctively, attacking back with the only thing on hand—an empty suitcase.

The couple were on the last day of a holiday visiting relatives in London before returning to India. They had just returned from buying a suitcase for the trip and were walking up along Bensham Manor Road in South London with their family when the gang of moped riders attacked at around 3 p.m. with a foot-long knife.

The valiant actions of the man as he fended off the attack in broad daylight on a London street were caught on video.

The man, who declined to give his mane, described the attack to the Evening Standard.

“I tried to use [the suitcase] to shield the ladies from the man with the knife. Sometimes offence is the best defence.”

“But they pushed me to the floor hard and I hit my head on the footpath. Blood was oozing from my head and my glasses broke.”

The man was taken to the hospital with minor head injuries.

In the video, screaming can be heard as one attacker takes a swing at a woman, only to be stropped in his tracks as her husband rushes to intervene, swinging the suitcase at the assailant.

Attackers speed off on a moped after robbing a family of 4 gold chains at 3:10 p.m. on a residential London street on Sept. 20, 2017. (Screenshot/Twitter)
Attackers speed off on a moped after robbing a family of 4 gold chains at 3:10 p.m. on a residential London street on Sept. 20, 2017. (Screenshot/Twitter)

The 45-second clip was taken from a nearby house, and shows the gang escaping on mopeds—an increasingly popular vehicle for violent crime in the capital.

The robbery was described as ’sadly not unusual' by neighbours, according to the Daily Mail.

According to the Standard, the man’s wife said: “I was screaming so loud but no one came to help. He grabbed my chain from behind and I was crying, ‘Help me’. My sister-in-law was panicked and he then demanded her chain too and she gave it him.”

Four gold chains were stolen in the robbery.

Mopeds have become de rigeur among London’s criminals in the last year or so. Easy to steal and highly manoeuvrable, they have been central to a spate of crimes, used to mount sidewalks to snatch phones, or as getaway vehicles through crowds and narrow streets.

Related Topics