UK Crime: Hero Saves London Gumtree Buyer Stabbed in Heart
Gumtree Logo
A 42 year old man received open heart surgery in July after he was stabbed in East London by a group who posed as car sellers on popular free classified website, Gumtree.
After the stabbing, the victim was saved by a member of the public who scared away the attackers before providing first aid while awaiting the air ambulance.
The man was responding to an advertisement offering a Volkswagon Golf car on the London subdomain of the website.
The true owner of the car was completely unaware that the car had been placed on the site, and, when the buyer arrived to purchase it, he was instead kicked to the ground and stabbed several times in the torso, including once in the heart. The £5,000 he brought to pay for the vehicle was stolen.
While it occured on 30 July, Metropolitan police have only released details of the stabbing this week as they are looking for witnesses to the violent attack.
The police hailed the assistance offered by one member of the public who scared the assailants away before administering first aid on the victim until the arrival of an emergency air ambulance.
The victim suffered serious injuries including a punctured lung and an injury to his heart’s pericardial sac.
A spokesperson for the Gumtree website told:
“We take safety very seriously and regret that one of our users has been a victim of crime.
[Gumtree] are helping police with this investigation.”
It was also stressed that care should be taken to meet in public and to take a friend along to any meeting.
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Posted by Robin Scott
on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:19:06. Click Here to Subscribe to Robin Scott by RSS. Filed under Crime.
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