OFF-DUTY COP STABBED IN FIGHT WITH MOPED THIEF
Officer is ‘stable’ after thwarting attempted theft of scooter
‘One of my officers was stabbed while bravely intervening in a street robbery’ COMMANDER JANE GYFORD
An off-duty police officer was stabbed last week while trying to defend a moped from thieves. The City of London officer, who has not been named, was attacked with a ‘large kitchen knife’ while attempting to prevent a theft on Malyons Road, Lewisham.
The 37-year-old saw a group of four men on bikes attempting to steal a moped from its 21-year-old owner. The suspects were armed with a knife but the unarmed officer confronted them, resulting in him being stabbed in the leg. Despite his injury, the officer succeeded in preventing the theft as the group fled the scene. The officer remains in hospital in a stable condition. Commander Jane Gyford, of the City of Police police, tweeted praise for the officer: “One of my officers was stabbed while bravely intervening in a street robbery yesterday.”
This is the second incident involving a police officer in Lewisham in two weeks. On August 1, two officers were assaulted on Brownhill Road after they spotted a moped with two passengers.
As the police riders queued in slow moving traffic the rider of the moped sped up and drove directly at the officers, knocking one to the ground with his own bike landing on his right leg. The pair on the moped then fled along Brownhill Road where they were in collision with a lorry. Both the rider and passenger then ran from the scene pursued by the other police officer.
The pair went in two different directions and the rider was subsequently apprehended by the officer and arrested on suspicion of robbery, aggravated taking and driving away, assault on police, assault on police and failing to stop. The moped had been reported as stolen earlier that day and was recovered. The 15-yearold rider was taken into custody at a south London police station.