Would you have let him in?

[HEIHEI23]

Last night, I heard someone knocking on the door at 3am. Thought I'd imagined it but then it happened again. I woke my husband and he said I'd dreamt it until it happened again! I looked out the window and there was a man walking round the street looking panicked and I could hear him on the phone to his mum.
I opened the window and shouted him over and he said someone had just tried to stab him on his way home from the pub and he needed help.
My husband went to let him in and he basically said he'd been jumped by four lads who had knives and he'd ran off but didn't want to walk home incase he saw them again. He was middle aged and obviously had a few drinks! He waited with him until his taxi came and then he left and came back to bed. The man took our details for when he spoke to police when he got home.

Since waking up this morning some of my friends have been saying we were mad to let him in at that time and now I'm curious as to what others think 😂

So AIBU?
Yes - what were you thinking? I wouldn't have let him in.
No - I would have let him in too

I wouldn’t have let him in but I would have phoned him a taxi and spoke to him from the window until it arrived.

but then again, I don’t really trust many people.

I'd have felt awful, but I wouldn't have let him in. I have a small child to think of. I'd have directed him round to our back garden though!

It’s kind of you to have taken care of him. I’d have let him come around the side of the property, maybe into the conservatory but not inside the house. I struggle with my desire to help others and that to keep my family safe.

I hope I'd have done the same as you OP (more likely I'd have slept through it, or if I heard knocking at that hour would've ignored it). You assessed the situation and correctly determined he was telling the truth (having witnessed him on the phone to his mum) rather than being dodgy or dangerous. If you think someone's in actual need of help and you're in a position to offer it then it's inexcusable not to.

Duplicate post

He could have been on the phone to anyone! Have you not heard of those stories where people pretend to be in need of help and them rob/attack those that let them in?

That happens in TV series more often than in reality, cunning psychopaths with an elaborate evil plan are pretty rare in real life.
Also, firearms are illegal in the UK, so a potential attacker whom you let into your home only has knives or physical force to subdue you.
Also, people are very bad actors and manipulators in general. You can spot if someone is playing drunk or spinning a tale.

I wouldn’t let in a man in if I m alone, but i wouldn’t go into overdrive about feeling threatened or unsafe. I would help, go outside, call the police, etc.

Watching Luther and having street smarts are not the same things.

@OdeToBarney I did think this but he didn't know I was watching and I watched for a good few minutes and listened to his conversation.

I would definitely have let him in. We have to make the kind of society we want to live in.

Of course I would have let him in!! Complete no-brainer.
I was brought up to treat others as I would want to be treated, and if I had just been attacked by four people with knives at 3am, I would sure hope a stranger would offer me safety.
Basic human decency.

All fine, so long as you are also prepared to be treated with such suspicion when the day arrives that you are in dire need of help.

As OP has clarified she was observing him beforehand.

Of course I've heard those stories but have you heard about actual cases where people need help and are not lying?

I think it's important to trust our own abilities to assess these situations rather than leaping to a paranoid worst-case scenario.

Yes I would have let him in , my first thought would have been to help it probably wouldn't have crossed my mind that he wasn't genuine especially after listening to him .

Okay Jenny from the block 🤣

It is not as simple as firearms being illegal in the UK. Many people have firearms licences or shotgun certificates, or just illegal weapons.

Anyway, that's besides the point (who mentioned guns?) because I'm not sure how someone 'only' having a knife is all fine and dandy. Would you want to be stabbed or raped at knifepoint?

Perhaps I've been living in rough parts of London for too long, or perhaps you're just naive. We'll never know!

Definitely would not have let him in to the house. He could have been having a psychotic episode or it could have been a ruse with others to get into your home and rob you. You cannot be too careful. I would have spoken to him from the window, and called the police, and kept talking to him until they arrived. If there was no obvious assailant pursuing him, that would be the safest option all round.

I was once driving past a hospital in heavy traffic with friends and their baby. A man who was bleeding ran out of the hospital and tried to jump into our car. Luckily the doors were locked. He began shouting that someone had just stabbed him and begging us to let him in the car. We did not. We had a child with us, had no idea what was going on and didn’t know if his attacker was going to pursue him to the car with a knife. He ran off across the street and disappeared from view. I always lock my car doors on every journey as a precaution.

I live in London alone too and I m not naive, I assess things based on common sense and observation of the situation at hand, and instinct rather than tropes inherited from fiction. I trust my instincts rather than true crime docs.

I was attacked on the street, sexually assaulted and left for dead when I was 17, I have thought about it. Thanks for the concern

I would not have let him in, no. I would have called the police on his behalf but no, my self preservation would take over I'm afraid.

We’ve very recently had a confirmed-by-police spate of attempted home attacks in our (‘naice’) part of London with very similar tactics to get people to open their doors. I wouldn’t have let him in but I would have called him some help and kept talking to him out of the window.

As someone who has been a victim of a break-in in the middle of the night (elsewhere), sorry if my self-preservation tactics aren’t me “being kind”. 🙄

Reminds me of that story in the news in the last few years where a guy was running from someone trying to shoot him, a woman opened her door to him with her child stood behind her and the child was shot dead as a result. If she’d just not answered the door her life would be so different now. It depends who is at home for me.