The tragic news about the banker who was beaten to death in Norwich on Sunday morning, had a particular resonance for me. I had my own experience of a brawl in Norwich the day before - in the vegetable aisle of Sainsbury's. As I was pushing the trolley a man in his 70s suddenly fell heavily onto the floor in front of me. His face was bleeding, he looked stunned and was finding it difficult to breath. I immediately knelt down to see if I could help him. Meanwhile another man started shouting loudly, "He tripped me up. He pushed me!" to the injured man's wife, whilst acting in a threatening way to the man lying prone on the floor.
The wife meanwhile was telling me her husband had emphysema, which explained his breathing difficulties. He looked as though he might not make it. My partner and I got help from the staff who put the guy into the recovery position and rang an ambulance. Meanwhile, the angry man - who was at least 60 himself - went off shopping and was arrested by police after being found in the alcohol section. We tried to continue shopping but couldn't really concentrate. We saw the man - Colin - being helped into a wheelchair and later talked to him at the police station where we went to give a statement. It turns out the other man had punched him because he wouldn't move his trolley out of the way.
A cautionary tale: Just heard today that the villain was fined £60 and let off with a caution.
Posted by: David Farmer | December 15, 2008 at 18:05