Posted on 09/20/2007 6:56:36 PM PDT by PotatoHeadMick
A suspected burglar fell 30 feet from a top-storey window of a London hotel after being disturbed by guests.
He is fighting for his life after plunging face first on to the pavement from the second-floor window of the building in Victoria.
Five men, all of whom are believed to be tourists and guests at the hotel, are being interviewed by police. "Two men have been arrested and are being held at a central London police station," a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said. Witnesses heard shouting and smashing noises from the top floor of the building just before the man fell at 6pm last night.
The man is believed to have been disturbed by two Italian guests returning to their room at the Cedar Guest House in Hugh Street.
Detectives are trying to establish if the intruder fell trying to escape or was pushed during a struggle. The police spokeswoman would not confirm the man was a burglar but said it was one of several lines of inquiry.
The victim, who is in his 20s, suffered severe head injuries and is in a critical condition at the Royal London hospital.
Jay Barrymore, 23, the first person on the scene, said he noticed a large gash on the back of the man's head - from a "heavy blow" - even though he landed face-first. The financial analyst, who works nearby, added: "I saw a silhouette tumble out of the window on the top floor and I thought, 'God, what has happened here?' I thought it was a practical joke or workmen throwing something out of the window. I ran towards the building and there was this guy there on the ground bleeding very heavily. He was unconscious - I didn't think he was alive."
He said the man's trousers were halfway down his leg and he only had one shoe on.
Technical officer Clive Alexander, 47, of Edmonton, who was walking along Wilton Road at the time, said: "As I was walking past some guy came flying out of the window. There seemed to be some form of fight, as I could hear yelling. It happened very fast."
Personal trainer Galwyn Maratou, 25, who lives on Hugh Street, saw the man unconscious on the ground.
He said: "There had been a fight. I just saw this guy was on the ground with blood everywhere. He was really messed up. The place seemed to be being smashed up."
The Cedar Guest House refused to comment.
Ouchie.
It’s kind of interesting. Britain used to hang criminals, especially murders, but now they are moving more in the direction of hanging the victim.
Soon, anyone in Britain who is not a criminal will be eligible for the noose. Or they’ll have long since fled.
may be more to this story than the 'victims' claim???
What a wonderful country my ancestral homeland has become... I had always wanted to visit there, but now I wouldn’t visit the UK on a bet... It’s shameful. I hope Ireland is at least somewhat better, as we seldom here such things from THERE... and that’s the BEST side of my ancestry!
It sounds like one wild burglary
Thirty-two feet per second squared. It’s not just a good idea. It’s the law.
Robbing/burglarizing Italians (Sicilians?); not a good idea. I guess this criminal never saw any mob movies in his brief, soon to end, life time.
how dare the victims disturb a burglar as he does his job.
It's not the 32 ft/s^2 that is the problem. It is the few thousand ft/s^2 at the other end that's the problem.
How is a sincere criminal, trying hard, going to get ahead in his profession if his victim fails to cooperate?
Almost all crime depends on the cooperation of the victim.
If the victim refuses his assigned role, the criminal is placed at a disadvantage, one so severe that it usually takes an understanding and compassionate judge to set right.
LAZARUS LONG
true.....Its' that sudden stop that hurts.....a real bummer. :)
The tourists from Italy didn’t know that in the UK one is NOT to intimidate, let alone fight with, a burglar. They are supposed to meekly give up their valuables and perhaps fix the fellow a lunch to go.
“””What a wonderful country my ancestral homeland has become... I had always wanted to visit there, but now I wouldn’t visit the UK on a bet...”””
Excuse me? You won’t visit Britain because a burglar fell/was pushed out of a window?
I’m glad you aren’t coming. The fewer dumb tourists with those kind of reactions, the better.
“””It’s shameful. I hope Ireland is at least somewhat better, as we seldom here such things from THERE... and that’s the BEST side of my ancestry!”””
What a spiteful, moronic thing the write.
That London Police arrested the tourists doesn’t surprise me in the least. Attitudes in the Capital are beginning to resemble San Francisco’s towards crime. Burglars get short shrift where I live , where the attitude is more , lets see , like your Midwest .
We get quite a few tourists in the summer - mostly domestic , although we find a few Doodles (American visitors) who have got lost on their way to Lincoln or York . I’ll tell you something for nowt ; anyone found robbing tourists in Lincolnshire would get seven bells of shite beaten out of them , and then some local Police might do the same again !
What in the blazes is a burglar doing with his pants down and one show off?
Even I understood what dcwusmc meant was that the assinine behavior of the police in prosecuting the victims of a crime which is apparently typical in Britain these days (Tony Martin) is why he would avoid the place. Here in the USA where we have (except in the northeast, Chicago and kalifornistan) the right and ability to defend ourselves against thugs this sort of crap doesn't happen. Personally, since one of my wife's cousins lives in London I might still go there, but it it isn't real high on my list (right after visiting the 9th ward in New Orleans)
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