Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘I want to offer my attacker some help’
A MINISTER who was assaulted on a Dundee street wants to meet his attacker and offer him help.
Reverend David Robertson of St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee, inset, was walking along Albert Street on Monday afternoon when he was approached by two men — one of whom appeared to be under the influence of drugs. According to Mr Robertson, the man began verbally abusing him before trying to hit him.
The minister was able to hold off his attacker and get in a taxi. He said he was left shaken but unharmed by the incident. The assault took place around 1.30pm on Albert Street and police are carrying out inquiries.
However, Mr Robertson today told the Tele that he wants to meet the man and “offer him the help he needs”.
He said: “I felt sorry for the man, he just seemed to be out of his mind.
“At the time I was really angry but as I thought about it I really pitied him.
“I am quite a big person and — while I was worried that he might stick me with a syringe or a knife — I knew that I could probably defuse the situation.
“I really want to reach out to the man and offer him some advice and support.
“I just want to see if there is anything I could do to help him out to make sure that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. The guy was in such a mess and something has made him so aggressive.”
Mr Robertson said he believes more needs to be done to support drug addicts — but that dealers should be dealt with in a firmer fashion.
He said: “I wish that there was more treatment for people — and I don’t mean things like methadone. I mean things like rehab. You find that people who use drugs are part of that culture and they struggle to get out once they are in.
“People with these issues can often make life very difficult for others.
“Those who are involved in the supply of drugs should be dealt with very harshly — they are killing people at the end of the day. They completely ruin people’s lives and it is them that should be dealt with harshly rather than drug users.”
Mr Robertson added that he is in the process of setting up a community project in the Charleston area of the city, which was inspired by a drug user who joined his church.