‘I was robbed 20 metres from home in street’

One victim of the gang told the Standard today how he had been robbed in the street as he walked back to his home in Balham.

Mark Dickman, 29, a theatrical musical director, was surrounded and robbed having caught the last Tube home after working on a production of the musical Footloose at the Playhouse Theatre.

He said: "I was only 20 metres from my front door when I saw these three black youths with hoods and baseball caps walking towards me. I tried to cross the road but they met me in the middle. One grabbed my bag and another held me while the third looked me directly in the eye and said: "What have you got to give me? "

"The experience was chilling, it was also the fact that it was the middle of the summer on a warm evening in a quiet street. It was the school holidays and there was no-one around so I was an easy target.

"The whole thing was probably over in 45 seconds. They went through my pockets and my bag and stole my mobile phone and rifled through my wallet. They were not interested in my credit cards just hard cash.

"As they left they said : "You're lucky mate. You're very lucky."

"I was extremely fortunate. I got a small bruise where they pushed me around but I was only harassed and shocked. There were other victims who had much more violence. I was very calm and particularly submissive to their needs, but I wasn't really in a position to argue."