Kicked to the ground on a fine Summer evening
This was back in 2002. I was walking home one night when suddenly on the other side of the street I heard shouting. I looked round and saw a man aged in his 30's running along with a young kid ( his son? ) close behind him. He reached a man aged in his 40's and with just one swipe of his leg had him down on the ground and started repeatedly kicking him in the body and the face.
I was naturally very shocked. But before I'd had the chance to decide what ( if anything ) to do, he stopped, and started running away with the kid close on his heels. The victim started rising slowly but at that same moment the attacker ( who had a stereotypically criminal appearance ) suddenly burst out swearing and ran back to the man again, knocking him to the ground and viciously kicking him in the face and mouth. I stood, watching from across the street, flabbergasted, until he eventually stopped and ran away with the kid, this time for good. Meanwhile the victim got up, very slowly and painfully, with blood streaming from his mouth. I wondered whether I ought to offer him assistance of any kind, but he disappeared out of sight very quickly.
I don't know whether I should have called the police the moment I first saw it happening. Or even gone to the police station and reported it afterwards. I suppose I decided it would be up to the victim to do that if he felt it seemed appropriate. This was an example of witnessing something and not knowing whether to intervene or simply let the situation be.
I can only speculate about what could have caused the attacker to commit the crime. Perhaps it could have been the result of a vendetta of some kind. Or, assuming that the kid was the son of the attacker, it's possible that the victim could ( perhaps previously ) have been nasty to him in some way.
Whatever the cause, what an absolutely disgraceful example the attacker was setting for the young boy!
(Gandalf, Sun 17 Feb 2008, 20:18, Reply)