Sadiq Khan is happier fining motorists than tackling violent muggers like the thug in a balaclava who battered us for my £6 watch: HUGO VICKERS

Published: 23:11, 4 July 2026 | Updated: 23:27, 4 July 2026 Being mugged is a terrifying experience. One minute you are walking along peacefully and the next you are thrown to the ground in an atmosphere of chaos and panic. There was an evening when my girlfriend Cindy Jackson and I were walking home from a romantic dinner in Central London. We were both discreetly dressed. It was a leafy residential street – and about 11pm. We crossed the road. Suddenly, from nowhere an assailant appeared and shoved Cindy forcefully to the ground.  She was screaming and bleeding, badly cut on her forehead from where she’d smacked the pavement. Insomuch as you have time to think of anything, my fear was that she was being dragged away. Could it be a kidnapping? What would they do with her? My trigger reaction was to swing a small suitcase in my right hand over my left shoulder and whack the attacker over the head. I caught him and the blow wasn’t inconsiderable as the fortunately heavy suitcase contained a 600-page manuscript. But I too fell to the ground as we tussled. At that moment, ear-splitting ringing filled the night air. Cindy had activated an alarm she kept on her – she being much more streetwise than I am. Hugo Vickers had his watch stolen by an assailant who had shoved his girlfriend Cindy to the ground It frightened the attacker too, and he ran off, leaving Cindy and me to pick ourselves up from the ground. The whole incident took no more than 20 seconds. The assailant had arrived stealthily and silently from nowhere. Maybe he had been hiding in a garden. He made not a sound, he never spoke. A balaclava hid his face, so I could only describe him as tall. But he was clearly a seasoned operator, confident in his mission – he knew how to surprise his target and knew when to disappear. I thought he was after Cindy. It was only about an hour later, sitting quietly in safety, that I realised that my watch had gone. I never felt it go, he must have slipped it from my wrist as we grappled. Perhaps that was his plan all along. The irony is that the watch cost only £6. I had bought it in a market in Birmingham in 2022. It kept accurate time twice a day.  Only that afternoon I had put a new battery in it. But thank goodness he felt he’d got something worthwhile and ran away. I don’t want to exaggerate, but that £6 watch could have saved our lives. I shudder to think how easily it could have ended in tragedy. Cindy, in particular, could have sustained a fatal head injury by being thrown so violently onto the pavement. Mr Vickers said it is under Mayor Sadiq Khan’s (pictured) watch that similar situations have occurred across London The following morning the police came to take lengthy statements and to photograph Cindy’s injuries. With us for two hours, they were conscientious, courteous and sympathetic. A WhatsApp group for the street’s residents swung into action and neighbours checked their door camera footage to see if there was any recording of the mugger.  But all that existed was phone footage after the attack, taken by a concerned resident alerted by Cindy’s scream. It captured another man nearby, using a torch or the flashlight on his phone to, perhaps we thought, signal to his accomplice who’d attacked us and was still lurking. But it was thin gruel in terms of evidence. The police made a lengthy report and ran it past us (I could not resist tidying up the prose the way we writers do).  I am sure that they pursued further inquiries, examined nearby CCTV if there is any, but what could they do beyond that? A few days later we both received notices that the case was closed. It is frustrating that there are plenty of cameras to catch motorists going 22mph in a 20mph zone to issue fines. Why are the cameras not catching the miscreants that roam our streets? For us, this was a severe warning. It could have been hugely worse. As we have told our story to family and friends, we have been horrified by how many others have similar tales to tell. Some people have been mugged more than once – one friend in the Fulham area five times. One evening in Kensington, I saw two men in the distance at about 6pm and later realised that they had been rifling through suitcases on the pavement. They had clearly stolen these from a hotel round the corner. They took what they wanted, sped off on bikes and left the jumbled clothes and sponge bags scattered at the side of the road. Cindy and I normally love to walk in London, but the attack has put the fear of God into us. We are too old to cycle and driving in the city is not easy or enjoyable. We both have passes that ensure free travel on public transport, a bonus when you are over 70, but the Tube has its hazards.  Separately, Cindy has been assaulted twice on the Underground, once going through the barriers and another time on a crowded platform after the trains were delayed. On a third occasion, she was surrounded by a group of menacing youths after emerging from the station. They only backed off when a man came around the corner. Now she is terrified of being in London, the city she always dreamed of living in before she arrived from the American Midwest in 1977 as an art student. I used to be scared when I went to New York, especially in the 1980s, in the days of travellers cheques. I carried them round with me, expecting to be mugged at every turn. I never felt that kind of fear in London. I now do. We both carry alarms and would urge others to do likewise – in the hand poised for action. The noise will probably not bring help from passers-by but can shock the assailant. I never use my iPhone in the street. There are too many incidents of bikers grabbing them. Indeed, there is a prevailing sense of lawlessness in the capital, be it muggings, shoplifting or even knife attacks between youths. And it is on Mayor Sadiq Khan’s watch that this truly shocking situation has arisen in London. I appreciate that policing is expensive but the Mayor must prioritise making people feel safe when walking in the street. Yes, many are suffering financial hardship and crime is likely to rise, but lawlessness is unacceptable.  And I hesitate to suggest that there are too many unknown individuals who arrive here and have no respect for the property, or indeed lives, of those living and working here. Perhaps a new prime minister will make law and order a priority, but I have little hope. In the meantime, I urge anyone who reads this not to think it won’t happen to them. There is plenty of evidence to suggest it will. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy. You wait ages for a heatwave, then three turn up at once! UK set to sizzle for THIRD time this summer, with temperatures expected to top out at 34C next week