A letter I wrote, commenting on the incident of Day 659 appeared in the Hampshire Chronicle, Thursday November 6th 2014
Thanks To Women Who Came To Rescue (heading)
Sir,
Whilst busking yesterday in Winchester, I was subjected to an assault by a drunk man who, firstly, threatened to smash my guitar, and then lunged at me. Fortunately he was arrested soon afterwards and taken to Southampton. It was a rather frightening experience and, apart from the police, I would like to thank all the people who came to my assistance: the person who phoned the police almost immediately, the two who tried to get the man away from me and, afterwards, the many who said they would be happy to be witnesses.
In other words, I would like to thank the women of Winchester. Because, although there were as many men about as women, not one came to my aid. Now, either this is just a coincidence, or there is a more logical explanation. I would be interested to know if any readers have theories. After all, I’m sure not all women are brave and not all men are cowards.
Marvin B. Naylor,
Greenhill Road,
Winchester
When I sent this to the paper’s website, I got a call back from Duncan Geddes, a reporter, who asked me to describe what happened, so I told him, then asked him if they would print my letter. He said that, instead, because the police were involved, it was a story ‘of public interest’, and would be featured as a news article and not a ‘letter to the editor’. Well, I just wanted the letter in the paper, not as a feature article, and I asked if, because it concerns me, I had any say in it! He said I didn’t, again saying about the police and ‘a matter of public interest’.
Anyway, knowing the paper comes out on a Thursday, I went to the website and there was a piece, with an old photo from 4 years ago. It said…
A 36 year old man has been charged with assault after a well-known busker was allegedly attacked in Winchester High Street. Guitarist Marvin Naylor was performing near The Broadway on Thursday when a man allegedly shoved him and threatened to smash his guitar. The busker, who has performed in Winchester for four years and runs a blog about his experiences, said he was “a bit shaken up” but got back to business after a few minutes.
The man was restrained by a group of women and was later captured on CCTV. Russell Loveland, of no fixed address, has been charged with common assault and was bailed to appear before Basingstoke Magistrates Court on November 18th.
…but when I bought the actual paper, they’d put the letter in and not the piece by the reporter, which was fine by me! An hour after I got the paper, I got a phone call from the police who said that when they interviewed Mr. Loveland, he said he couldn’t remember doing it, but he had been drinking since 7am and said ‘I’m an asshole when I’m drunk’. The police said that although I was just out of the CCTV video – until the very end, they could see this bloke. He did a weird pirouette then swung a punch at me.