If you witnessed someone being attacked, would you try and help?

[Frosty66612]

Saw an old documentary last night about Lee Rigby and the people who stepped in to try and help him during the attack.
It got me thinking if I would be brave enough to do anything If I witnessed such a brutal attack that had weapons involved. I honestly don’t know if I would though as i’d be so terrified :-(
Would you try and help?

I’ve done it. I agree, you react in the moment. The aftermath reaction is quite another thing.

I think you do or you don't like if you see a child fall off a pier into the ocean - you jump or you freeze and think about it later.

I saw a hit and run and was stagger by the 'bystander effect' I was giving mouth to mouth (he died sadly) and had to pause to TELL PEOPLE TO CALL AN AMBULANCE!! I assumed they had as I was not the first on the scene but no, they were waiting for someone else to do it.

I later read about bystander effect and understood - it is frightening.

I remember reading somewhere that a woman who was being attacked in her home shouted Fire, and that got attention from others who help her.
In the Lee Rigby incident the bastards were after a soldier, any soldier, so he was their target, iykwim, they wouldn’t want to be seen as killers of women, but bloody hell those people were very brave to try.

I've been "in the moment" for varying incidents, and have had the response range right from physically intervening (to pull someone out of a fight) to standing there like a lemon doing nothing.

I have no idea why in some situations my brain decided to act and in others it froze or fled,but it's not as simple as pure flight or fight.

It's hard to say until you're in a situation.

I remember being about 20, and going to a local event to watch an eclipse and walking back late at night with a friend.

A woman was at a phone box and she waved us over and asked if we could wait with her, she'd left her house in nightclothes and called a relative for help, but was worried her husband was looking for her and might find her before the relative came to help her. She wanted us to wait with her and we did. The husband didn't find us thankfully. This was before everybody had a mobile phone and we were prepared to get between him and her if need be to try and keep her safe until her relatives arrived.

Years later I saw a couple arguing in the street and he was aggressive and kind of grabbing at her and dragging her. I had DS in a pram and felt I couldn't physically step in because of him but I rang the police and described what was happening until they got there to help her. In that time lots of people had walked by them and ignored them, he had pushed her against a wall and raised his hand like he was going to hit her, and a man on a bike had stopped to intervene and been punched and so rode away again. As the police arrived the aggressive man ran into the road and was almost hit by a van, which he then started kicking and punching in temper.

And more recently I saw a couple walking down a lonely road, she was either very drunk or very drugged and couldn't walk unaided, he was holding her upright and dragging her along.

If he had let go she would have been on the floor and not moving, she was in that much of a state. I drove passed and something about them bothered me, so I drove back and watched as he pushed her so she was slumped over a wall and then he started shouting, and walking into the middle of the road still shouting. Then he would grab her again, drag her a few more steps and push her back against the wall.

She was kind of dangling over it while he ranted and shouted and stamped up and down.

I rang the police then as well, it was late at night, nobody else came along the road, there were big empty houses with big empty gardens, and I thought better to get the police there than intervene and hope someone else came along to call them.

The police came while I was still on the phone, the woman I was speaking to said it was because I said the woman didn't look like she could walk unaided but didn't seem to want to be with the man, but she couldn't get away.

They arrested him while I was watching, and an ambulance came for her.

I never saw him hit her but god knows what he might have done to her if he'd gotten her back to wherever he was taking her, or if he'd dragged her into one of those big empty gardens.

Most recently of all, I was at work late at night with one other member of staff, who was only 20 and pregnant, and a customer who was in his 70's, and we were attacked by a man who had recently attacked someone with a hammer.

He was getting angry and aggressive and I pressed the panic button for the police but put myself between him and the pregnant colleague and the customer, my reasoning being he would probably still see even an older man as fair game, and if he was going to hit a woman better to hit the one who wasn't pregnant.

He ran at me with his arm raised to punch me and I didn't move, and I think perhaps it was that that stopped him from hitting me. I've never been so scared of getting punched in my life but if he was going to hit me I was going to watch him do it.

Once back in the early 2000s I was driving to my childminders to pick up DD2 and I kid you not. On the pavement in her street, there was a teenager tied up with cable ties. He was trussed up all over. I stopped the car and started to get out.
Then a gang of youths burst out of their garden gate and dragged him inside, threatening me with being beaten up.
I was shaken up and carried on a few yards up the road and my childminder had to give me a cup of tea to get me to calm down.
She said it was just 'kids' messing about and to not report it.
Happened all the time at that house.
I soon cancelled our contract after that. Didn't want to have to come across that again.
Pity she lived in such a rough area. She was a great childminder.

I once was driving home and saw a large group of teenagers, both male and female, had formed a ring. I instinctively knew someone was a target. I pulled over, got out and said, 'what the fuck's going on here'. I pushed through them and there was a young lad in the middle of the group. He looked so frightened. I told the lad, 'get in the car'. The gang then asked me 'if I wanted some'. I told them 'to bring it on'. No one moved. Once I got in the car, the gang surround it. I reversed at speed, then drove forward. This obviously got them het up. They decided to chase after me. I swung the car round and put my foot down. I chased them all over a housing estate. I drove over peoples gardens to try and get them. They disappeared over garden fences and onto fields.
I'm glad I stopped to intervene and would definitely do it again.

Another time, I was laid in bed and heard a girl screaming. My house backs onto fields and quite often hear teenagers messing about during the night. But these screams weren't the usual high pitched joking about type. I called the police to report it and the call handler could also hear the screams. I threw on some clothes and ran out to investigate. It never came to anything, which I'm glad about, and yes, I would do it again.

I would and have in the past, including an armed shop robbery. But I work with offenders convicted of high risk offences and have done for more than a decade so, I click into work mode and things become very clear and slow. I wouldn't try and grab the knife etc but I would intervene.

I have done. I was with an ex and we saw a women being beaten up by her partner it was awful

Would I if I was on my own I doubt it but I would have done something.

you react differently in every situation as you will measure the dangers around in in a split second wihthout even registering that you have but I am quite sure I would never turn a blind eye. I don’t go along with the it’s not my business when I see someone adult or child being harmed (obviously at times others are involved so no need to also get involved)

Another time I saw a women being slapped over and over again by a man and he was tearing at her top I stopped my car and shouted at him and kept bibbing my horn and called the police they had already been called. They guy didn’t noticed me but the two guys at the bus stop opposite had and just stood and watched. It was a group of teenagers who called the police they ran back round when they heard the sirens they were all distraught by what they had witnessed but they had done something

I guess so, most people would.

I stopped a violent robbery and waited for police/ambulance with the victim and wrote a statement for police.

Don't know the outcome, police wrote inviting me to attend sentencing but I didn't make it. Actually haven't thought about that for years, I remember the perpetrator's name but not the victim (he was bleeding quite a lot and there was nothing I could do but sit with him until services turned up)

Daniel, just came back to me

Yes I do intervene. Every time. I don't think I have a 'flight' switch. There is no way I could stand and watch someone be attacked and do nothing.

I wish I would sometimes! I genuinely worry about being burgled as I don't know how far I'd go if dd was in the house.

I work on a pub and once had to lay on top of a man who was being attacked by 5 others. Anything to do with weapons absolutely not.

Not in those cases where they were intent on violence no, I am a small woman (5ft) and there is a limit on what I can do to help.

But what I have done several times both as bar staff and a pub customer is stepped in front of one man about to attack another and calmed him down.

Usually drunk men fighting is all about bravado and proving masculinity. So they tend not to be keen on the idea of thumping a tiny woman in the way and it gives long enough for them to cool down. Being small is useful then.

I once got beaten up by a gang of girls when I was 13 and was badly injured. There were passers by and people driving past but no one stopped. I hate to think that no one bothered to help me, but if I put myself in their shoes I’m not sure i’d be rushing to help either as i’d not want to get hurt myself. I’d definitely phone the police though

Years ago I was walking towards the Oracle shopping centre in Reading with some friends and saw a large group of people (mostly adults) standing around cheering, naturally we thought they were watching street performers so joined them to have a look.

There was a teenage girl on the floor having her head and body kicked by a group of four other girls - all teenagers of about 14/15 I was absolutely gobsmacked and very angry. I waded in and pulled the girls off her, screaming at them and the crowd about how they should be ashamed of themselves. Thankfully the girls didn't hurt me but stood around calling me names and swearing at me. The teenager I was with was mortified and scared that they might recognise her, and her mum was scared that I would be hurt. I took the girl to security who called the police. I have no idea what happened to her after that.

I think I would be more scared now because of the amount of knife crimes etc but I could never imagine walking away from such a scenario without doing anything at all, even if that was just calling the police. I was genuinely upset at the number adults standing around cheering the girls.

Were the adults dead rough? I'm astonished that they were cheering the assault on. Who does that?

Having lived in Reading and the Oracle (or the ‘Orrible as it was known when I lived there) I’m willing to bet they were!

I would hope so in most situations.

I've always remembered me and a friend being set upon at a bus stop be a group of older girls they were being physically threatening and trying to take our money. When the bus came a few minutes later they got in our way stopping us getting on the bus we ran around them and got on the rear door on the bus then went to the front to show our bus passes. The bus driver said because we'd got on the wrong door we had to get off the bus. We explained what was happening and he just said "bad luck". No one intervened to help despite there being lots of people who had seen what was happening and had got on the bus.

My mum and grandmother did when they saw a lone man being beaten up by rival football fans in town. They were hitting them with their shopping bags!

I would like to say I would help. I would not if I was with DS though.

The comments on yahoo about that attack were disgusting.
All about women wanting equality so why should men intervene.
Awful.

Not these days if you intervene their is a good chance you could end up being arrested yourself or attacked

I would however call the police

I have gotten involved yes (shouting, waving arms, and asking questions), but never had to decide about anything very violent or brutal or where there was an obvious weapon.

I can imagine lots of extreme situations where I would just freeze up and be incapable of doing anything.

I have when out of a night. In those cases, i was confident that the Men were just not wanting to back down, but would allow a Woman to break up the fight.

I have with Teenagers.

I've been mugged and was very grateful to the group of lads who stopped and put an end to it. They drove off, after the muggers had gone, but another care, with children in (so I understand why they hung back), then stopped and too me to the Police Station.

I'd like to think I'd do the same.

When it comes to knives etc, I now wouldn't, would have when younger, but I think it would be more effective to shout "someone take a picture, I'm on the phone to the Police". I certainly couldn't physically do much (I'm currently disabled).

Last incident I remember I was cycling thru a park as a fight started between 2 lads, with supporters on each side. I shouted at all the watching teens to ring the police (my phone wasn't working). I went to very nearby police station main one for city and they were all shut up at 6pm & no one answering their service phone). About then 2 police cars tore out of their garage sirens blaring, so hopefully that noise alone stopped the battling teens. So frustrating.

Time before that... I was cycling thru same park it looked like some teens were mugging an old man.. turned out the adult man was trying to mug the teens. I only had to shout to break that one up.