Detectives are appealing for help in solving a violent attempted robbery that left a man badly injured.
The incident happened on a towpath leading from Rotherhithe New Road to South Bermondsey Station in Southwark at around 17:10hrs on Wednesday, 6 December.
A man in his 40s was approached by two men riding on the same bicycle. The suspects pulled the victim to the ground and slashed his face twice with a knife in an attempt to steal his phone.
When they couldn’t easily grab the phone they made off empty handed.
They were seen cycling off in the direction of Stubbs Drive after the attack.
The two men are described as both being white and aged around 18-20 years and were wearing dark clothing.
The victim was left with cuts on his face. He was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to hospital for treatment.
Detective Sergeant Darren Quartly of the Met’s Central South Robbery Team is leading the investigation. He said:
“This was a violent and frightening attack on an innocent person. The suspects did not achieve their aim of stealing his phone but the pain they caused him physically and mentally is significant. The scars from his injuries will be with him for the rest of his life and it will take him time to recover from this attack.
“We are determined to crack down on crimes like these to make our streets safer.
“The incident happened near a station at a busy time of day and so we think it’s likely that someone will have seen something or have some information that could help our investigation. If you know anything at all we urge you to get in touch.”
There have been no arrests and enquiries continue.
Anyone with information or any witnesses can contact police via 101 or @MetCC on X, quoting CAD 5048/6Dec.
To remain 100 per cent anonymous call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit the crimestoppers-uk.org website.
