Three or four year ago I was mugged while walking along a quiet residential street only a few hundred yards from my home. The assailant stopped his car and got out to supposedly ask for directions. He then produced an extremely large knife and proceeded to relieve me of the minimal worldly goods about my possession. After this unfortunate event I sprinted to the local tube station (too close to home for comfort) and the boys in blue turned up in less then a minute. Apparently I was the third victim in half an hour. 1) I was extremely grateful and fortunate not to require the assistance of any of Tom's colleagues. The outcome could so easily have been entitely different. 2) Three days later I actually received a call, while out, on my mobile from a CID officer- not to say that they had caught the assailant, but ostensibly to simply check that I was OK. I really appreciated the call. While not necessarily random violence ( the bar steward was obviously targetting people) I would like to think that I was blameless.