I'm kind of scared to tempt fate here (!) but I've lived in London for 15 years now and touch wood have not had one single violent event affect me in my everyday life, including nights out - work was a different matter, but I kind of "self-selected" by working in certain environments. It's not all bad! Most of my friends haven't experienced bad stuff either, only one who did was a 19-year old male who went up an alley at 2am on a Friday night, drunk, for a pee and talking on his mobile, and got his wallet removed at knifepoint, and thankfully he was unharmed. Again, without blaming the poor kid, it was kind of self-selecting. I'm NOT saying it was right! Today I put out my composting collection, peelings and the like, and saw the locals returning with their kiddies all excited about Easter eggs and Dr Who. I am IN NO WAY apportioning blame, but if you don't go out at night to certain places and/or get drunk then you will not be involved in 99% of the aggro Tom and other emergency services personnel encounter daily. London's better than the small town I lived in before, someone shot at me with an airpistol there from a passing car (for the local crime of "Walking Alone While Female") and another drunk threw half a brick at me, again walking home alone from work about 10pm. Nowhere's "safe" in my experience, and no-one DESERVES to experience unprovoked aggression, but a bit of common sense? Never hurts.