Mugged

Someone gets mugged once every two minutes in Britain -

and if you're between 16 and 24

it's six times more likely to happen to you.

Just had a recent theft snatch,

we've got PCSOs in the area chasing the suspect...

Mugging has become so common, fewer than half of all victims even bother

to report it to the police, but it's a crime that can be devastating.

This is the story of three victims whose lives changed forever

when they were all violently mugged.

There was like, a loud bang and a crack.

I didn't think anything of the crack, but later that turned out

to be my nose being broken at the top.

I just remember one big punch to my head that he did.

I went straight down to the floor after that.

The pain of the injury was nothing

in comparison to the mental pain afterwards.

They describe their attacks, the aftermath,

and we'll discover whether any of the victims succeeded

in their quest for justice.

I just saw two or three of them -

turned around and stared at me while I were walking in the door.

And, with access to one of Britain's busiest

street robbery units, we'll be on the front line of the police's battle with muggers.

The Street Robbery Unit are on night patrol in their unmarked police car

in Lewisham, South London - an area with one of the highest rates

of mugging in Britain.

It's their job to be the first on the scene of any street robbery,

to help mugging victims, and catch their attackers.

When they rob someone

they're not looking particularly at that person -

they may look at them and see

an easy target or a victim, but they...

It's nothing personal against this person.

They look at them, and they see them on a phone and they...

see some quick money that can be made, so they'll go and snatch that phone

or they'll use some force to take their property, they'll quickly go and sell it, get 20 quid...

-INTERVIEWER:

-What have you seen?

Just a lad - probably nothing, he's just following erm...

He was following a lady quite closely.

Just going to make sure that

he passes her, and nothing happens.

Getting later in the evening, people have had a few drinks,

all they want to do is get home -

iPod on, unaware of their surroundings, really.

They can even be followed for quite a long distance,

quite a few roads, until it's quieter,

and before they know it they've got

a suspect or two wanting to take their phone off them.

Aidan is a 21-year-old philosophy student

in his final year at Leeds University.

It was a Wednesday - standard university day,

finished my lectures normal time.

I had an interview that Friday

for a really important job that I really wanted,

and I was over the moon, I was in a really good mood that day.

It was on the 26th of October 2011

that Aidan was taking his normal route home

at 6:30 in the evening.

So I walked through the park - it's a well-known student thoroughfare,

thousands of students will walk through it every single day

along the same path that I was walking along.

I texted my girlfriend to say I was on the way home,

It was dark and I was thinking,

"I need to be a little bit on guard here,"

so I took my headphones out, turned my music off.

There was a guy in white in front of me, and I remember thinking

"If I can walk near him, I'll probably be all right."

And I just lost focus for a minute

and I started walking faster, and I got past that guy in white,

and I suddenly found myself by myself.

And I heard, like, this rustling in the bushes,

and started to see the silhouettes people moving about and thought,

"That's really weird."

There was about five of them around me,

down the path I could see there was about ten of them...

I could see that they had their hoods up, all of them,

and they were wearing masks -

covering the outlines of their face you couldn't see anything.

I was thinking, "Shall I turn around and run?"

Within a second of thinking that, someone kicked me

and I stumbled forwards then, and they started attacking me.

There was like, a loud bang and a crack.

I didn't think anything of the crack, but later that turned out

to be my nose being broken at the top.

He was really going for it, he was absolutely laying into my face.

With the punches you could time it, and he was literally just

standing there swinging his arms -

every single one hitting me in the face.

I was getting punched from other sides as well, there were people

sort of all around me hitting me by this point.

So I thought, "There's no point in trying to fight back,"

so I was like, "You need to start running in... You know, like, run -

because this is going to end really bad for you if you don't.

And I started running, and within about two footsteps

I could hear that there was someone like, right there behind me.

And this was like, probably the scariest part of it

because I thought I wasn't going to get away, and I thought that was it.

And I can still hear his footsteps, really, and I can still hear him breathing.

And he was right there, like...right there. On me.

There's just that constant,

"What's it going to be - is it going to be a knife, a brick to

"the back of the head, is it going to be a punch, am I going to get tripped again...?"

It was pitch black, there was no light in that park.

The only light I could see was the blue lights of the curry house,

and I saw those, and I didn't even think

"That's the curry house, you'll be safe" - it was "There's light, go for it."

I thought, "You're running for something really important here.

"You're running for your life."

And I could hear his footsteps,

and all the time I was thinking "You're not running fast enough,"

and I shouted for help.

It didn't come out like a shout, it came out like a guttural scream.

Aidan managed to outrun his attackers, as they tried to pull his bag from him.

He escaped with nothing stolen.

When he reached the curry house, the owner called the police and an ambulance.

And I looked down at myself,

and I could see there was just blood running off my nose.

There was blood all the way down my shirt,

and I'd got bloodstains all the way down there...

The guy who owned the restaurant was really helpful. He was nice.

He called the police for me and he called an ambulance,

and he said "Do you want to clean yourself up in the toilet?"

So I went in, and erm...

there was a mirror in there, and that was weird.

You look into the mirror,

and what's looking back at you isn't what you'd expected to see.

And that's when I took the pictures.

Washing my own blood off my hands...

Because there was a lot of it on there.

I was washing it and... the water was just red.

It was everywhere - it was underneath my fingernails,

it was on the bracelets I had on my wrist.

I said to myself, "You're really high, you're just going to crash,"

and as soon as I thought that, that was it, it just...

I sat forward and I started crying, and erm...

it wasn't like anything I'd ever cried like before.

I wasn't crying because I was sad,

or cos I was mourning something - it was like, a panic.

At 6:45, police arrived in the park,

but the gang had fled

and Aidan was rushed to hospital by ambulance.

In Lewisham, it's 11:30 in the evening,

and the robbery unit have just had a report of a mugging.

They provide an immediate response to emergency calls like this.

A member of the public just called in saying she could hear a female screaming, "Help me."

She's looked out her window and seen ten males running towards

where this female was screaming.

We've just had a further call to say that it appears to be that the female has been robbed.

Two cars from the Street Robbery Unit are responding to the call.

'The male who's done it has made off.'

We'll split up. Once we get close to the scene we'll turn the sirens off,

and go on a silent approach, to have the best chance of sneaking up on any suspects still in the area.

The female victim was attacked from behind, and dragged along the ground

as she refused to let go of her bag.

This is the trouble, they disappear so quick...

Yeah. We've arrived on scene pretty quick, but as you can see it's fairly quiet.

Yeah, go on...

The victim is distraught,

but agrees to be driven around in the other police car

looking for her mugger. This is the best opportunity to catch him.

A drive round's something that we do as soon as we possibly can with the victim,

as long as they're not badly injured and need

hospital treatment or seen to by medical...

Then we'll get them in the back of the car.

They're the ones that have seen the suspect,

so they'll be the ones that can identify them.

And the sooner we can get that done the better,

cos he'll still be wearing the same clothes, hopefully, and still have the property on him.

The victim believes she has recognised her mugger on a nearby street.

We've got a victim, and she needs to have a good look.

So what I suggest is we'll stand you down there,

and she's going to drive past.

If you was robbed, we'd be doing exactly the same for you. OK?

We would take you on a drive round. Just walk down here...

The victim is driven past the group,

to see if she recognises any of them as her mugger.

Right, that's it...

She's not identified any of you being involved, so thank you for your time.

The victim did not identify any of the group as her attacker.

Police enquiries continue, but no arrests have yet been made.

I started getting involved in crime

when I was about the age of 11.

I was really frustrated and angry

and started to commit crime, robberies on my street.

I just used to walk around with a ferocious temper,

and you see someone on their own,

and you're just influenced in a demonic way

where your hunger's driving you, you want money,

it's the want, the lust...

And you might see someone who looks like they're vulnerable.

It's about really putting that fear into them

preferably at the beginning,

the way you approach them, the way you're dressed.

You have your hood on, and you might or might not have a knife on you

but it's really getting that fear into them.

Once they're scared, they'll give you whatever you want.

So are you in any pain in your arms at all...?

Ben is 21 and lives in East London,

where he is studying to become a doctor at Queen Mary University.

So you're in no pain. Did you have any sensation in your arm and leg,

-or did that go as well?

-No, it was all fuzzy.

In July 2010, he was the victim of a violent mugging.

It was the end of year exams,

which is the most stressful time of the year.

And then the day you finish,

it's just such a relief.

We all went out to the Students' Union

just so we could all sort of catch up

and have a few beers and dance around and stuff -

just have fun for the first time in ages.

At 1:00am, Ben and Dave left

to walk the five-minute journey back to Ben's house.

On way the back from the Union there was a group of guys,

who were just sort of sitting there, I didn't think anything of it.

Probably about five of them, sort of stood around chatting.

We went over to speak to these guys. And it was just kind of...

As I remember, it was quite friendly.

It might have...

No, it was friendly, we were just talking about "What do you do...?"

Then the phone in Dave's pocket rang, and it was a brand-new iPhone.

Dave just by instinct pulled it out of his pocket to check it.

It was odd - the whole atmosphere just changed,

and for a second it just went dead silent

and you could almost hear a pin drop.

One of them challenged me - he said, "How fast can you run?"

And I run a lot. And I was drunk and I was in really high spirits,

so I was obviously sort of being the big man, and I said, "Really fast!"

And then one of them grabbed the phone, and ran off with it.

Dave just sort of, chased after him.

And then I was in a bit of a shock then

because it all happened so fast.

I saw him run through this tunnel. Went over towards the tunnel,

and he was nowhere to be found. It was dead silent as well,

I couldn't hear anyone running or anything.

So then I was left alone with the remaining four.

But I didn't feel threatened at that point, because I didn't feel

they were being antagonistic to me at that point.

They'd said, "Don't worry, I know where they have gone, we'll walk round

"and we'll get the phone back."

And we ended up walking into the middle of this council estate -

really tall buildings, no street lights around there and it was

very dark, very quiet, and it was at that point I was a bit apprehensive.

But we carried on walking,

as I didn't want to leave Dave by himself anyway,

and lo and behold they were there, exactly where the group had said they were.

I said, "Have you got my phone, mate? Where is it?"

And he said, "Don't worry about that, it's gone."

They'd gone from being this sort of friendly, chatty bunch

to sort of, very intimidating.

We started saying, "No, can we please have it back?"

and we were making a bit of a racket at this point.

The whole group of them started to get quite annoyed with us

for making a noise, probably cos we were attracting so much attention...

It was as if they'd had enough, and they were done humouring us.

And then something just, like, flipped and changed.

And then the next thing I know, the guy standing closest to me had headbutted me in the face.

And then I turned back round, and there's sort of a guy

right in front of me

who then sort of smashed me round the side of the head with a brick.

And I was just knocked to the floor, knocked out cold.

The next thing I remember I just came to -

my nose is bleeding and I've got blood all down my shirt, and my face hurts.

Takes me a while to orientate myself,

but I sort of immediately sobered up,

then I notice that Ben is lying on the floor facing away from me,

with a puddle of blood around his head, and he's snoring.

I was petrified that he was in a coma or something,

cos he's obviously completely out of it,

he's not stirring, he's not moving...

So I came round for a moment -

first of all I remember feeling wet on my face,

and I didn't know why, and I opened my eyes. And erm...

sort of saw Dave

underneath this street light, with sort of an orange glow

on Dave's head.

And he was sobbing with tears,

saying "Ben, you'll be all right. It's OK, you'll be all right."

And I didn't know what had happened to me at that point.

I remember asking Dave, "Why is it wet?"

And he told me it was blood,

and the wave of panic that came over me then,

I've never felt so vulnerable in my life, sort of...

lying there in a pool of blood.

So I remember running up to Ben, and trying to carry him,

trying to pick him away. Get him away from the situation.

And I remember getting his blood all over my hands,

I was covered in his blood...

Ben was taken to hospital by ambulance.

He didn't regain consciousness

until 6:00am.

I remember coming round in A&E.

I thought... In my head it was almost as if I was waking up,

so I sort of expected to be in my bedroom.

So I looked round and then

Dave was sat there looking quite tired,

cos I think by then it was the next morning.

And I lifted my hand up and I had all these wires connected

to my hand and I had no idea, I had to ask Dave what had happened.

But he seemed quite happy when I came to.

When I saw that Ben was all right

there was just this massive sort of tide of relief,

and I just remember thinking, "Fantastic, he's all right."

I received four fractures around my eye,

two above and two below,

and I can't open my left eye as much

especially when I'm quite tired,

and so I assume I had some sort of nerve damage as well,

and just the biggest black eye you ever saw -

my eye didn't open for two weeks afterwards.

After being kept in hospital overnight for observation,

Ben was allowed home.

What we find in Lewisham after a robbery...

it depends if the robbery suspects live in that area -

if they don't, they'll be straight on public transport

to get out that area back to where they feel comfortable,

ie a friend's home address or their home address.

And either get rid of the property very quickly -

if it's not their first time,

they'll know generally where to get rid of the property,

be it a phone or jewellery.

After reports of school students being targeted by muggers,

the Lewisham Street Robbery Unit are patrolling the area.

We're police officers.

Don't worry.

Basically, there's been a spate of schoolkids in this area getting robbed,

after school and in their lunch hour.

You looked a little bit suspicious cos you're walking up and down...

It looks like you're acting a bit shady. Just want to speak to you.

-So where are you going now?

-Just going to go to the shops.

-Shops are that way.

-I'm going to give you a quick search for weapons.

Have you got anything on you?

How many phones have you got, two? Let's have a look at that one.

Just going to do a check...

-Is it contract?

-I think so.

-You think so.

-Where did you buy it from, a store?

-INDISTINCT REPLY

It's 3-5-8-4...

7-3-0-3...

The police have a database, with the details of any mobile phone reported stolen,

which they can check when they stop and search suspects.

OVER RADIO: 'No, it's not registered, and there's no reports on it.'

Superb, thanks very much for your help.

Thanks for your time, yeah? Have a good day, won't you?

Cheers, mate. Take care. See, shops ARE that way...

HE LAUGHS

I mean, when you're doing a robbery,

you actually don't think of the consequences till afterwards,

despite when you attack them or assault them.

Afterwards, you think about,

"Actually is that person still alive? Are they all right?"

Afterwards maybe you think about that.

At the time you're just thinking, "I want the money, the phone..."

It's kind of like you're an animal really.

A bit of it's for fun, you're getting adrenaline rushing...

It can be scary because you're always thinking about

people looking, if you get caught, the police,

and these kind of things are a factor.

On the 18th of August 2011,

18-year-old Richard was violently mugged by a gang for his phone

in Halifax, West Yorkshire.

-'Hiya. Has it happened now?'

-'Just happened now, yeah.'

'Did you get a description of them at all?'

'There were about four or five of them, I think.'

'Anything about their clothing that stood out?'

'Hoodies and tracksuits and stuff.

'They've stolen my iPhone 4.'

'Right, OK...'

Just before Richard made this call to the police,

he'd been on his way to meet his friends for a night out.

I'd booked the day off work so I could get my A Level results.

And I got what I needed for my job interviews and stuff.

I wasn't really a big fan of uni,

so I just thought I'd apply for some jobs or something.

Everybody that I knew who lived in Halifax was going into the town centre on results night,

and hit the clubs. I booked the next day off so I could have a lie-in.

At 9:45, Richard left his home to walk into town.

I had my headphones in. Everything was fine, I were cool,

excited to go celebrate my results.

And I saw this guy walking up to me, and he had his hood up,

so we got a bit closer and I thought, "I'll take my headphones out."

He stopped. I went, "You all right?" He goes, "Yeah. Give me your phone."

I went, "What? Give you my phone?"

And he just went, "Yeah," and he just reached into my pocket.

And I just pushed his hand away straight away,

and as soon as I did that he just

smacked me round the face something shocking.

I thought, "Right, let's run away."

I crossed the road,

and I saw three other guys jogging along trying to catch up or something.

I thought, "Oh, God. What are they going to do now?"

And as a teenage boy wears their pants quite low,

your pants sort of start to fall down,

which'll just stop your running.

And I just thought, "Right. I'll just stop."

And as soon as I stopped they were just right behind me.

They were all trying to go in my back pockets, front pockets...

And I think it was the oldest guy, cos he was bigger and more muscly -

I just remember one big punch to my head that he did.

I went straight down to the floor after that.

Put my hands away, let them just go in my pockets.

They got my phone, I must have been on the floor

for another 30 seconds cos when I got up they were in the distance.

Richard had no idea how badly hurt he actually was.

I thought, "Right, I might as well walk home now."

So I started to walk home and I had this massive headache.

So much of a headache. Never had one like that in my life.

More concerned about catching his muggers than getting

the medical attention he desperately needed,

Richard went to a nearby house to call the police.

I passed out, I was sick.

Passed out again. I don't know how many times it happened...

But I was passed out when the police people came,

and the ambulance.

At 10:30, Richard was taken to Halifax A&E department

by ambulance, accompanied by the police, who were

becoming increasingly concerned by his injuries.

He'd deteriorated on the way in the ambulance, so when I saw him

I couldn't believe the state he was in.

He didn't seem to know we were there,

and he was sort of writhing around on the bed.

And me and his dad were trying to hold him and reassure him

that we were there and it would be OK.

But then we noticed that one of his eyes had dilated,

and we kept saying "Should he be like this, should he be shaking?"

And then about five other people came in

and started taking his temperature and taking his blood pressure.

Richard had been struck on the head with such force in the attack,

that a blood vessel in his brain ripped open.

His condition continued to deteriorate,

and at 1:00am he was rushed 20 miles by ambulance

to a specialist unit in Leeds for an emergency operation.

He had a massive bleed on the left side of his head,

and they would have to...

Made me feel sick to listen to him. ..shave this side of his head,

remove part of his skull, and it would be in like, a question mark,

take this part of his skull off, drain the blood,

check for swelling and everything, put it back.

I just couldn't believe him. It was like a nightmare,

and I just couldn't believe that my son, my youngest child,

was going through that horrendous thing.

Doctors gave Richard only a 1 in 10 chance of living through the night.

He survived, but was kept sedated

in an induced coma for ten days,

in an effort to control the pressure on his brain

and prevent further damage.

The days went on and he wasn't coming round.

He was still heavily sedated.

I started worrying then about, "Will we get Richard back?"

Cos at first we didn't imagine the implications

of what this could be.

Then my mind started thinking how Richard would come out of this.

And all we did was talk to him, hold his hand, tell him who was here...

The next thing I remember was in hospital -

I just remember my arm being up there, I couldn't move it at all.

Tried to pull it down, and I couldn't.

I couldn't say anything,

couldn't move, couldn't talk or smile or...anything.

We were so relieved to see him with us,

because we'd been talking to him for ten days and thinking,

"Has he heard us, is he aware...?"

But when he did come round, he started trying to focus,

and we just kept saying, "We're here, Richard. You're going to be OK. You're in hospital."

We tried to tell him where he was,

because we didn't know what he would be able to see

and how he would understand, with this brain injury.

What I thought had happened at first was I had fallen off my scooter.

I didn't know what happened. I just couldn't remember at all in hospital.

He had to try and speak again, but none of it made sense.

I couldn't remember the last year, college, work,

couldn't remember some of my friends' names...

I was just thinking, everybody I saw,

I sort of knew that face... "Is that your dad?"

Yeah, that's your dad. I went, "Hi, Dad."

Richard's best friend Ben let him shave his head to match his.

Oh, that's a good sound! That is a good sound...

Oh, yes!

'They had to shave my head to get to my brain. Ben said that he'd shave his too.

'But he sort of waited till I were awake, and it didn't really go well.

'The video's quite bad, with my left hand falling down and I'm trying to get it up there...

'And I think I just shaved the front of his head off.'

BEN LAUGHS

After four weeks, I remembered what happened,

I had a few crying fits in hospital,

but it didn't change the way I thought.

It didn't really...

Like, I was still raring to go and get better, trying to move my legs,

trying to walk, trying to...

I mean, they thought I'd be in a wheelchair for, like, three months

I was in for one.

They said I'd be in hospital for six months, I was in for two.

You can't put a price on that, it's just great that you're out.

Richard was discharged on 14th October,

having spent eight weeks in hospital,

in which he had to re-learn how to talk, walk and care for himself.

The gang that stole Richard's phone went on to sell it,

getting just £40 each.

The attack on Aidan left him afraid to walk to university again.

He even found it impossible to go to the shop at the end of his road,

just 20 metres from his front door.

It's really frustrating to be in a situation

where you don't feel like you can leave the house when it's dark.

Obviously, you want to be normal.

You know, you feel stupid for taking a taxi.

You know, how many other people take taxis to uni or whatever?

Can't find a way to walk to get to uni

or to get out and about without feeling uncomfortable.

At Christmas, I got really angry about it and started having a really short temper with people.

And that did start to affect my relationship with people.

I just got angry about nothing.

It wasn't my fault, it wasn't their fault,

but I started to realise when you're being angry for no reason

and when you're being unreasonable with people,

you stop yourself and apologise, but yeah, it was very frustrating.

I got unlucky, but what's to say I wont get unlucky again.

I don't trust people. You don't trust anyone.

You don't trust taxi drivers. You get in the car and think

"Are they going to beat me up and nick my stuff?"

It's absolute hell. You feel completely trapped.

I didn't want to leave my room.

Every single day was a mission getting into uni,

and your mind is probably the worst thing as well

because it comes up with scenarios that you wouldn't have thought of -

of how someone's going to attack you.

And then you expect it to come, and you're waiting and it doesn't come

and you're, like, "I just got lucky, where's the next one?"

I still carry this on me, pretty much all the time.

It's extremely loud and pretty painful to the ears.

You just pull that cable there, that pin comes out slightly,

that sets it off.

Or you can press the button there for a burst of it.

So I usually carry that in my pocket like that

or with that wrapped round there.

This is the stab vest.

I wear this underneath my jacket.

It's quite heavy, but you just wear it to uni and take it off,

put it in a bag and carry it around, then put it on to come home.

Um...

It goes quite tight really and makes you feel quite a lot better.

I look back now and think, "Well, maybe it was a bit excessive",

but I did feel, and still feel, like it will happen again.

I don't know how to shake that,

but it's there in the back of mind that it will happen again,

and I felt like it was going to happen again every single day.

I would literally have done anything to stop it happening again

and protect myself.

Five months have passed since Aidan was attacked

and no-one has been caught by the police.

People say, "don't let them win"

and I think that's a stupid thing to say, personally.

Because they've already won. They beat the hell out of me

I never fought back.

I know they're never going to be prosecuted.

They've got away with it.

The police didn't arrest any of them in relation to my case.

It's basically closed, you know.

So they've won, they've got away with it.

In Ben's case a suspect was arrested and charged after his mugging.

But the trial itself did not take place until the 24th of August 2011,

more than a year after the attack,

just as Ben was getting his life back on track.

In court the defendant accepted that he'd been part of the group

that encountered Ben.

He admitted that he had hit one person,

but claimed he was acting in self defence.

He denied being responsible for Ben's injuries.

A jury found him to be not guilty.

Ben found his experience in court to be an intimidating ordeal.

He felt his good character was questioned by the accused man's defence.

To be honest, out of the whole experience,

I found the court case to be the worst part of it by far.

When I got in there, the prosecution guided me through the story

and that was fine. They were quite nice.

But then the defence lawyer stepped out and, for about an hour,

tried to convince me I was a liar.

"I put this to you. You're lying." You know?

"You were really drunk and wanted to go out and have a fight."

He was trying to make me out to be some sort of monster when really,

I'm the victim and I've had months from hell

and he is trying to make it seem as if I'm the one to blame.

The accused mugger's defence lawyer has agreed to meet Ben

to discuss his experience in court.

Nice to meet you again.

I've got very vivid memories of you calling me a liar

and saying that I was out to cause trouble and start a fight.

That stuff...

Having been attacked as I was, and going through all that,

that was almost worse than the actual attack.

I'm sorry you felt that way. As you appreciate, I have to do my job.

My job is to fearlessly defend the defendant

and to present his instructions.

You did say, you know,

"I put it to you that you were out to cause trouble,"

and this is sort of something you judged from me

after meeting me 30 seconds ago, and you're able to make those judgements

on my character when you don't know me at all.

But I have to put the case as it appears.

If you had turned out to be a seven foot tall bruiser,

I would have asked you the same questions

as if you'd turned out to be a medical student.

All I knew about you was what was in the statement.

I'm not looking or trying to attack you personally

I'm not trying to make you, personally, look bad.

I'm there to question your evidence.

I'm there to make sure that the defendant's point of view

is put over and that he is properly and robustly defended.

As well as the ordeal of the court case,

Ben has also had to deal with the emotional trauma

which resulted from the attack.

The pain of the injury was nothing compared to the mental pain afterwards

and how long it took to get over that.

I had really severe qualms about going anywhere alone at night.

It wasn't something I felt I could talk to people about.

It felt like a weakness in my part,

so I really wanted to keep that to myself.

Um...I found it really limiting,

in that I was planning my time out, any social event I went to,

I was planning it around whether I'd be able to get back with anyone.

And if not "where else could I go until I could leave with someone?"

Having that worry every time you go anywhere,

it's really annoying.

On the 28th January 2012, something extraordinary happened.

As Ben was walking home through east London at 7:30 in the evening

he was viciously attacked by a gang of muggers, for a second time.

I was just on my way home from my part-time job, just walking home.

I was attacked by a gang, and they were attacking me

for about three minutes, punching, kicking and hitting me with a chain.

It seemed as if it was going on for ever.

I'd had recurring nightmares after the first attack,

and because of that, I had a very vivid image of what it

was like to be in that situation, being attacked.

And to have it happen again, it was almost a very dreamlike...

situation to be in. It was almost as if

my recurring nightmare had manifested itself in real life.

I could see the blood all around.

At that point, it didn't really hurt.

I was just sort of shocked into not feeling anything

and not really getting to grips with what happened until afterwards.

It only stopped because another man had come into the park

and scared them off by him being on the phone to the police.

It took a long time after the first attack to sort of get to grips

with everything that had happened

and get myself back together and back into normality.

To have it happen again has just sort of...

knocked it all back down to the start again.

It sort of like started the nightmares again.

Ben was robbed of his wallet, phone, passport and watch.

The police have arrested a suspect,

so he may have to go to court for a second time.

The fact that it has happened before,

it's almost just made it worse.

I can't really believe that it's happened to me again.

It's not...you know, I don't go around antagonising people.

I'm not that sort of person.

My whole point of what I do with my life

is to go and study medicine, with the aim of helping people.

Yeah, it does leave me thinking, why me?

POLICE SIREN WAILS

INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO

What's happening now?

Just had a recent snatch.

We've got other units going from traffic to local units.

Where's the victim?

What you find is, they wear quite a few layers of clothing.

The quicker we can get there,

the less chance they've got of ditching a piece of clothing.

A different coloured coat from a black to white

can change someone's appearance so dramatically.

And while it's fresh in the victim's mind, what that person looks like,

it may be that bit of clothing that picks them out from anybody else.

They've got him stopped.

Lovely.

So, the incident happened round about three to four streets away.

They detained one fairly quickly.

And as you can see, three or four roads away,

the second suspect's been detained.

As the team arrive, two suspects have just been caught

and are waiting to be taken for questioning.

The victim chased after his muggers, helping the police to catch them,

but has asked for his identity to be protected for fear of reprisals.

Do you want to jump in the car, and we'll discuss it in the car,

so we're not in everybody's view. Jump in the back, my friend.

-You're not injured?

-I'm all right.

-Yeah? You sure?

-Just tired, I was running.

Did it happen through the high street?

They ran through the high street?

-Yeah.

-If there is more that are involved,

there's always the cameras on the high street.

-There's plenty of cameras. All right?

-I can't recognise all of them.

OK, but the camera does all that for us.

We'll make the statement as quickly as possible,

-because I know you've got to get to work.

-OK.

A 15-year-old pleaded guilty to this robbery

and was given a six month referral order and ordered to pay £850 costs.

The unit typically deals with

between eight and twelve mugging reports every day,

and it's not long before another teenager arrives

to report being mugged.

That other boy came with a knife in his hand out of the bushes.

-From the park?

-Yeah.

-Right.

-He came with a knife in his hand.

And he was going to push it into my belly.

And I asked him to stop, and I was pushing him back.

And he just went like this, to do that to me.

Can you describe the knife?

It was just sharp, because he was covering it with his hand.

-You didn't see the handle?

-No.

-OK.

-How long was the blade?

-About that big.

He went into my pocket.

And he said, "If I find something,

"I'm going to hit you over the head with a hammer."

And I said "No, don't do that."

Then he went into my pocket and grabbed my phone.

Did you come straight home?

Yeah, I went straight home and told my mum as soon as I got home.

I was committing a lot of crimes.

I was in a lot of court cases, looking at a lengthy time in prison.

And I found myself in desperate need.

I met this young girl, and she told me about Jesus.

Everything has its time, a time to be born and a time to die.

You need to change your life and think about your actions, because the way you're living,

if you continue to live this life,

you will end up dead or in prison.

A lot of my friends were in these situations where they were getting killed

or going to prison. It was very much reality to me.

I started to believe, read my Bible and go to church. My life really changed.

# All I need is you, Lord

# Is you, Lord... #

I said, "You know what, God?

"I'm going to give you my whole life, my whole heart. In everything I do,

"my actions will demonstrate my faith".

One, two, three, Jesus! Amen.

From there, things started really changing.

They started getting better.

I started climbing and climbing and climbing.

Jesus loves you!

Jesus loves you, sir!

I'm a qualified youth worker.

I work with gangs.

I go to probation services and do a lot of outreach work.

I evangelise.

I go every Saturday. Wherever I get the opportunity,

I tell people about Jesus Christ to let you know, he can change your life.

Dear Heavenly Father, Father of God,

have your way in his life, oh, Lord Jesus.

In the precious name of Jesus Christ,

I pray. Amen. God bless you, my brother. You take care, man.

Some people take to it. Some people don't want to know.

Hello, madam. Can I leave you with something?

-No, you can't, I'm sorry.

-No?

Sometimes I see people from my past life,

and they always smile and they can't believe I'm doing what I'm doing,

that someone who was in such darkness is now walking in such light.

It's 9th February, six months since Richard was attacked.

His muggers have been caught and he will come face to face

with them in four weeks at their trial.

But Richard's struggling to recover, unable to work full time,

ride his scooter or drink alcohol with his friends.

He's started to ride the bus for several hours every day

to occupy his time.

When I was at home, I was just thinking about court

and everything that happened.

I don't know, but being on the bus and listening to music

sort of gets it out of your head.

It sort of brings something else into your thinking style,

like "Yeah, I remember this road", and stuff like that.

I mean, most of my friends

would be in work or college or uni or something.

And I just have nothing to do all day.

Is it difficult for other people to understand what's going on?

I think it is quite difficult for other people to understand.

You've sort of got to go through it yourself

and see what it feels like to be me.

See what it feels like to have something wrong with your brain,

and try and find something to do that you can still do.

I think what he finds the hardest is

knowing that someone out there can do that to someone.

It's not every day that you kind of...I mean,

you see it on the news,

but you turn a blind eye until it happens this close to home.

I just don't think he can truly understand

that people out there actually do that.

An occupational therapist visits Richard three times a week

to monitor his recovery

and set him tasks to get his brain functioning properly again.

-A train is heavier than a coach.

-True.

Photographic film is developed to obtain prints.

-Photographic film is developed to take prints?

-To obtain prints.

True.

-A pound of lead is heavier than a pound of feathers.

-True.

I've always wanted to be a web designer. I still do.

But, like, because of my attack, it's just had to be put on hold,

to be honest.

I'm just trying to get it back.

I was so focused in college. I understood every little bit.

But now I'm just having a bit of trouble

trying to get my...education back in my brain.

As part of his rehabilitation, Richard is now working

a couple of three-hour shifts each week,

at the pub where he had been working through college.

Although he used to find the job easy, he now struggles with it.

Oh! Combo feast.

Hooray! There you go.

-What is it?

-I can't remember what to put on it.

They're the worst starters in the whole world.

How many of the dishes do you think you do remember, rather than don't?

It's just the big dishes that I can't remember.

All this combo and fish platter and stuff.

They have about five different starter things on them.

That's all right now. That's sorted.

How many onion rings do you get now?

Four each.

Knowing something that I did know,

and it's just totally gone from my head, so it's quite annoying.

But hopefully doing these three-hour shifts, I'll sort of get it back.

I'm getting faster on preparation as well,

so I'm getting better at the job.

-So how did it go?

-Went all right.

-Good.

-I'm getting my menu back in my head.

As well as causing problems with his memory,

the damage to Richard's brain has caused his personality to change.

He is less inhibited and more impulsive.

I've actually learnt quite a lot about head injuries

since Richard's been home. We weren't prepared properly,

I don't think, for the difference in Richard. He's still lovely.

He's very outgoing now. He never was. He was very quiet at home.

He's very determined. He's quite a strong person.

We're getting to know a new Richard,

because it's like Richard went out of the door that day,

that night, and a different Richard's come back.

It's been one of the biggest things to...

We still love him, but he's different.

He's like a different person.

Because Richard had such a severe head injury,

the licence for his scooter was automatically revoked for one year.

I need my scooter to get places and go to Tesco

and...I don't know, go to the snooker club or something.

It's unfair.

I usually start her up, like, once or twice a week, keep her going.

Rosita, that's what I should name her, because it's a bit Spanish.

I like the Spanish names. Rosita.

I love it so much, and I'm just waiting to get back on it.

On the night that Richard was mugged, the gang that robbed him

also attacked someone else.

Their other victim saw the car they used to escape.

After a search, the police tracked the gang down

through the owner of the car.

It's 5th March, and the gang are due in court.

Richard will see them face to face for the first time

since the night they brutally attacked him.

Don't let it bother you. All you have to do is just go...

What was that?

The guy there in the red hoodie was...one of the 17-year-olds.

All you have to do, Rick, when they look at you, just go,

"See you later, pal."

I just saw two or three of them, I think,

because some turned around and stared at me

while they were walking in the door.

And they were still staring when they were turning round and walking.

My body just dropped.

Just get back-flashes, you know what I mean?

What it were like on the night.

It's made me angry now.

I wasn't feeling angry earlier. I woke up in a good mood.

Had a cigarette in a good mood.

But when you start seeing their faces, you're not in a good mood.

Urghh!

Sophie Arnold drove the muggers to and from the attack.

She received a sentence of two and a half years.

Hassan Adams admitted going out with the intention of robbing.

He was sentenced to six years.

Viren Lad admitted pushing Richard.

He was sentenced to six years.

Duron Thompson admitted going out with the intention to rob

and slapping Richard.

He was given seven years.

Stefan Grant has 20 previous convictions. He admitted

being present at the robbery and selling Richard's phone for £200.

He was sentenced to eight years.

Do you feel like justice has been done?

I do. I feel like justice has been done.

I'm just giving them back what they gave me, to be honest.

They can't be out drinking with their friends and stuff. They have to be locked in a little room.

How do you think they felt seeing you?

I mean, when they were walking round and they were looking at me

and whispering to their family and that,

it's just like, "You're in court, so be nice.

"This could be your life sentence or something.

"Don't act like that.

"I wouldn't mind you coming up to me and saying sorry."

I probably wouldn't accept it, but I'd take that as a hint, as in

"You wish you didn't do that."

I don't know if they were allowed to speak to me or not,

but I would have preferred it

if they'd tried to mouth to me "I'm sorry", or anything like that.

But...I don't know.

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