The watcher

This evening, at 7.10pm, at the bottom of my street, I witnessed an attempted murder. I have all my paws crossed that it's nothing worse.

The pavement was blocked by two men wrestling on the pavement, one was slammed into the side of a van. I thought that I'd best stay put until they'd wrestled free of each other. I didn't want to be bashed into and the tussle looked more tough than friendly. Seconds later, several young men got out of a Mercedes next to me and rushed towards the fight. Suddenly, it was four to one (I think four, though could be three - curse my memory). They pulled their victim to the pavement, kicked him, smashed his head on a sign, then, sickeningly, stamped on his head. I don't know for sure, but I think they pulled him (rather than him pulling himself) into the road between two vehicles. Shortly after, the men ran to the car and drove off. I clocked the number plate, as did another witness beside me.

Confusion followed as shopkeepers and bystanders gathered to figure out what they'd seen. We couldn't see the victim so didn't call the emergency services. However, he was spotted across the road, lying on the pavement. A group surrounded him and discovered he was bleeding from two stab wounds - one in the back and one in his hand. Not surprisingly, after such a bash to the head, he was drifting in and out of consciousness. We called the police and ambulance, who arrived around 10 minutes later. Statements given, and the young man on his way to hospital, I headed home, just a little shaken.

Throughout the whole attack, I'd felt so helpless. There were at least ten people watching, but what could we have done? I didn't know they'd had a knife - I didn't see it. It's absolutely shocking that these men thought to attack another in such a way in a public, residential street at the end of rush hour. However, I didn't get a clear look at any of the aggressors and wouldn't be able to identify them. Apparently the CCTV at that spot looks the other way. I suppose the victim is the one to identify his attackers, if he knew them and he pulls through. At least we got the number plate.