Bournemouth's Continuation of Violence

The last few months have witnessed an alarming increase in violent attacks throughout Bournemouth.

A vicious assault on a taxi driver, grandfather Thomas Newton, during an altercation with two men on Monday night, has further highlighted the perilous continuation of violence in the area.

Mr. Newton's aggressors had demanded money from the father-of-four at the culmination of a journey that was supposed to end peacefully in Boscombe. When the taxi had pulled up in Adeline Road, the attack began, which included the use of a knife, leaving the driver with a neck wound that required three stitches.

The 66-year-old victim has courageously vowed to return to work on Wednesday evening and told the Bournemouth Daily Echo, "It’s made me nervous and I keep looking over my shoulder...I want these men caught and also want to make other taxi drivers aware of the very real dangers they face.”

Violent crime numbers fell across the Bournemouth Division according to the latest statistics made available by Dorset Police. Between April 2007 and March 2008, cases of 'violence against the person' fell by nearly 10% although detections actually fell by close to 600 instances.

Details of Thomas Newton's harrowing ordeal were published as news of another story of violence emerged on Wednesday. These issues will currently appear far more pertinent than outdated police figures. After all, were it not for passing sanitation workers, Mr. Newton could have endured a far worse fate.

Three men are wanted for questioning following an incident on February 4 outside the Bournemouth International Centre where a 22-year-old man from Poole sustained bruising to the head.

In a week that has also seen the conclusion to one of the most high-profile murder cases in the town's history and the conviction of Alan Pickersgill, fears of violent crime have moved onto the agenda.

Pickersgill, 37, has been given a life sentence for the murder of Julie Bywater at his Southbourne flat in May 2010.

The Echo's Neal Butterworth, in his summation of the tragic event, somewhat reductively labelled Pickersgill 'a wrong 'un', which he undoubtedly was although such terminology obviously doesn't begin to describe the full extent of his complex psychosis.

The fact remains that whilst any large town has to grimly expect the inevitabilities of social disorder; Bournemouth's residents have had recent cause to closely examine the deteriorating situation around them.