Brave cyclists save mugged man

EAST LONDON cyclists came to the rescue of the elderly Peter Garbutt, who was robbed and stabbed while on an early morning walk in East London on Thursday.

Clinton Gravett explained that the group came across the attack in process while on their morning cycle.

“I was training with my squad. We were cycling up the Hemingway’s hill and got split up, with the faster guys upfront and the slower guys at the back.

“When the first guys had got over the hill the old man was still fine. They even greeted him. In the minute between the front of the group and middle group getting over the hill these two youngsters attacked him,” he said.

“When we got over the hill we saw what looked like a fight but realised the old man was being attacked. Both had knives, one was a very big knife like a bread board knife,” he said.

“They went at him with the knives a couple times. We shouted and the two attackers ran to the edge of the bridge and jumped over onto that grass slope. They then just started walking nonchalantly towards King William’s Town.

“The guys [cyclists] helped the old man into a recovery position until the ambulance came,” he said.

“Red Alert was there quickly and started chasing the youngsters but they got away in the bushes,” said Gravett.

The injured Garbutt was taken to St Dominics hospital in Southernwood. Gravett said that Garbutt had three stitches in his hand and had been stabbed between his fourth and fifth rib, with the knife just missing his heart, entering his lung.

At the time of writing he was still in hospital.

This is not the first time Garbutt has been injured by thieves. He had been shot 14 years ago in a robbery at Amalinda Nursery, according to his daughter, Yvonne Schrier.

She said: “He doesn’t do this [walk to Hemingways] often. He sometimes likes to go for a gamble early in the morning until I pick him up on my way into town at about nine.”

Explaining the morning of this week’s attack, she said: “I kept on getting phone calls at 5am and was getting annoyed but when I answered the phone I heard something about my dad and knew it was serious. I was horrified and shaking.”

Brett Harvey, regional manager of Red Alert Electronic Security, said yesterday: “We were alerted [to the mugging] on a community watch group early this morning [Thursday].

“By the time we had arrived the man was stabbed in the chest, under his heart. We believe there were two perpetrators.”

Harvey said that three officers were dispatched to the scene and once there gave chase after the suspects into the nearby bushes. The attackers got away.

“We monitor about 40 of these Whatsapp groups which we are added to by admin. We watch the groups on flat screen monitors in our control room,” he said.

“If someone reports a crime or suspicious activity on one of these groups we will respond but first we send a reply to say that we are on our way, to keep their mind at ease.

“This is not just for clients. We are focused on keeping the community safe and will help anyone,” he said.

Gravett warned it was not safe for runners and cyclists to train alone, adding that although runners were more prone to being attacked as they were slower, local criminals were realising the value of cyclists’ equipment and beginning to target them.

Said Schrier: “The cyclists have been absolutely awesome. They’ve been to see my dad three times since then. They even gave him some mace to put on his belt.

“It’s scary. No one is safe to just walk by themselves, it doesn’t matter who you are,” said Schrier.

No one is safe to just walk by themselves, it doesn’t matter who you are.