On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 14:55:01 +0000, Mark Drinkwater wrote:
> Cycling home through Buckhurst Hill last night, I was shot at by an
> idiot with an airgun!
....
> Any thoughts on whether I should report this to the Police considering
> the scant evidence I can give them?
Interesting replies.
A couple of years ago I was shot in the leg by a little b*****d with an
airgun. I was cycling home from work at about 2300, and I'm usually wary
at that time anyway, due to pub kicking-out shenanigans. In this case,
the pellet hit me in the calf muscle, and the blood running down my leg
kind of took my mind off riding any further. I dialled 999 there and
then, and spent the next couple of hours in the company of two officers
who looked after me and the trike very well. At the local station I made
a statement, was given a cup of coffee, and provided with first aid bits
and pieces, along with the offer of a ride to A&E if I preferred. After
checking the wound to make sure the pellet wasn't lodged in it, I declined
the latter (wasting the time of a stressed-out junior doc at midnight
isn't my style...), cleaned the leg up myself and stuck a dressing on it,
and then rode home (declining another offer of a lift).
The PCs were realistic: It was late, dark, I was travelling fairly
quickly, and couldn't even see the perpetrator. All I could go on was a
long-gone 'bunch of lads in an alleyway' and the direction the sound had
come from. Unless he shot someone else, or we'd found the pellet, or other
witnesses had seen the incident, the chances of finding and prosecuting
him were small. When I said that I had almost decided not to call them,
they impressed on me that I'd done the right thing. It increases their
knowledge of the area and the types of things that happen there, and it
could provide corroborative evidence for other incidents. The results
aren't always tangible, but it's worth the effort for the intelligence.
Mainly they provided a much-needed cushion against the shock of the
incident, and the means for me to recover enough to get home.
I'd say report it.
L
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