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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

I was working outside the cafe on the corner of Crescent Road/Langham Rd today when I witnessed a really horrible incident.  A very drunk, vagrant looking woman with cuts on her face and vomit down her top was asking the man on the next table to me for a cigarette and he got really aggressive with her holding out a chair as if he were taming a lion.  He was at least three times the size of her.  The incident escalated and he kicked her really hard before I intervened and said he did not need to be treating her like that.  A neighbour had also witnessed the incident and came down to assist.  She told him off and tried to get the woman an ambulance, but the woman wandered off in a daze towards Wood Green.   My question is what services should one call in an incident like this?  The cafeteria said she was always around, begging for food etc.  She is clearly in need of some kind of rehab help, before she encounters some serious harm.  Are there any emergency services who would come and take her off the streets for her own safety? I tried calling DASH at St Anns, but there was no answer.

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You could have invited her home to look after her - But i suppose that's a ridiculous suggestion right ?

It would be foolish to invite her home, that's a volatile situation and boundaries must be in place to protect kumari and his family. I looks like kumari did all he could in the situation and acted with kindness. The poor woman needs profesional help and may well already be known to the police, mental health and drugs and alcohol services. Perhaps phoning the police might have helped in some way.

Yes, I wasn't about to invite her home I'm afraid.  Perhaps I should have called the police, but I was hoping to find some kind of specialist help.  Apparently, she is a regular in this area so if I see her again then I will alert the police.  By the way I'm female!!

Sorry kumari :-)

No prob!

I think I would have called 999 or 101 as the woman was being assaulted rather because of her state iyswim. You could also log it with the Safer Neighbourhood Team. She may be known to the local services already.

Is she an older lady Kumari? Just wondering because I have seen a couple of minor incidents involving a very drunk woman at the north end of  the ladder.

Yes, she has shoulder length grey hair is of small, slight build, and could be anything from 40-60 as she is quite ravaged by alcohol.  She definitely was being assaulted, but once I and the other lady intervened the incident defused and the man admitted that what he had done was wrong.  She didn't seem like she wanted to press charges.  I wasn't sure if the police were the right people to call, I was more concerned with the state she was in and finding the right help for her.  If I see her again (apparently she is a regular in the area) then I will alert the police.  I also didn't want to get her into trouble with them as she seemed pretty harmless, if chaotic.

I dont think you need to worry about her getting into trouble with the police as that sounds like the least of her problems- but what it would do with any luck is for them to put her in a cell until she has sobered up where at least she is safe, and then maybe when she is sober they can talk some sense into her so she gets help

- I know there are wet houses around although not sure if in this area, but they are basically  hostels for people who cant get off the drink, so they are supervised and supported to some extent- its such a difficult call

I have seen her coming out of a flat on Turpike Lane by the post office a few times so guess she lives there?

Yes I would second the suggestion of logging this with the local SNT, as I know they do keep an eye on people like that!

I think I know who you mean, I saw her in Wood Green today with a cut on her face asking someone for money. And yes she does need help, I was walking down Turnpike Lane last Boxing Day pushing my then 3 month old baby along when she accosted me and asked to see the baby. Hmm fine, although she did look a mess. She then starts trying to pull my pushchair off me and drag it into the opposite direction. I was shouting to get off and she wouldn't I had to prise her hands off and run off. Loads of people saw as well but no one asked if I was okay or tried to help.

I actively try and avoid her when I see her now, so yes good job you didn't invite her back.

Sarah, That's horrible.  I would have been terrified.  I completely understand the instinct to avoid her, and I'm afraid I had no intention of inviting her back.  All I saw her doing was asking the man who assaulted her for a cigarette and money to buy food.  Apparently a few days before she had been trying to steal croissants from the tables so she's obviously hungry as well.  I didn't want to get involved at all, I just felt awful watching her being attacked though.  When I saw her she had a few cuts on her face, vomit stains down her front and had wet herself.  She really needs to be off the streets and in some kind of detox/rehab for her sake and everyone elses........I hear you about people in Wood Green as well, it's not the most community minded place.....

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