This morning's commute and other commuting stories

People being cunts to people more vulnerable than them can fuck the fuck right off.

Last night riding home, heading up Gipsy Hill, approaching the petrol station. I saw what was initially two people having a bit of a shoving match outside the Gipsy Hill Tavern on Mountbatten Close. I then realise it was a man and a woman, just as the man threw two or three punches at the woman's head. At least two landed, hard enough for me to hear the smack from the other side of the road.

She fell and I turned across the road towards them because I didn't know if he was going to carry on hitting her or chuck in a few kicks for good measure while she was down. He saw me and walked off towards the pub, mumbling something about being called a rapist.

I get off the bike and help her up. She is very upset and saying she wants him nicked, this time. I ask her if she is OK, ask her her name and tell her mine saying that I am going to try and help her.

She was holding her face, swearing and crying. I was worried the guy could have gone back to the pub to get his mates because of me and I generally just want to distance her from him so I walk her away from the pub down to the train station (mainly because there was shelter from the rain and CCTV in case he did come over and for my own accountability in case anyone got worried about a large bearded Irishman talking to a crying woman).

I kept trying to phone the police but she would get hysterical every time I got my phone out. I tried to convince her that they would help and that it was not OK for him to do that to anyone. He could do it again to her or anyone else. She wasn't having any of it.

After about 15 minutes she walked off, back towards the pub. Turns out they live there and there hostel type rooms above the pub.

While we were talking she was mostly incoherent (drink, drugs, shock, mental health issues or a mix of all four) but also over-shared quite a bit. It sounded like a fucking terrible and visciously controlling relationship, the room was in her name but he regularly turfed her out on the street, her dole money was paid into her account, this wasn't the first or worst thing he had done etc. But she still wouldn't let me phone the police.

When she walked off, I cycled about 100 yards up the hill to outside the chip shop and phoned the police.

They were great, showed up in a few minutes, took as much detail as I could remember and said they would make enquiries. They also said that if they were able to find them in the hostel (I had her name and a detailed description of her but only a ropey description of him and no name, I was more concerned for her at first) and even if she didn't want to press charges, he would be nicked. I remember from my training with the MET that in a domestic incident, attending officers need a fucking good reason NOT to arrest someone due to the number of times the situation can escalate once the police leave.

The police take my details, head down to the pub and I head home.

About two hours later, the same police show up at my house to take a statement because they have found them and arrested the guy for ABH. He is well known to them. She was "OK but a mess". At least she had one night in her own room without that cowardly cunt of a human being.

I worry now I've had time to reflect that he will go back and take it out on her but I couldn't have justified not doing anything at the time.

Hopefully this only adds to his list of known convictions/charges and makes him less eligible to be bailed. I dunno.

Tldr; cunt was a cunt and got nicked but it was during my commute.