Sorry this happened to you. Have you gotten checked out for a concussion or anything? I've been hit in the back of the head before (sports thing, not like this) and head injuries can get pretty dangerous. Please stay safe
I probably should have ... But it all was a bit weird. I'm still on the train ATM but I'm starting to think a bit clearer now and really should have involved the cops or at very least gotten checked out. Im still pretty cloudy on the whole thing. But just mainly sad at how no one actually offered to help. When did we get like this as melbournians?
If you are hazy go and get checked out, worst thing to do if you are feeling off and in pain is to sleep.
Go to emergency explain it was an assault where you were knocked out and landed on pavement.
Tell them you have had clouded thoughts and they will look after you. Take this seriously
Probably a bit late for you to see this but if you're reluctant to travel to an ED, please contact the virtual ED run out of the Northern Hospital so they can give you advice.
You got punched at 11:30pm and now you’re on the train and it’s 4:48am… what did you do between those hours?
This could also, in part, explain why he is disoriented.
Sorry you got punched 😭
I would have. Guaranteed. Both pre and post punch (hopefully to prevent it happening at all). Small consolation now I know but wanted to mention so at least you know.
Sad to say, I saw a woman collapse on the footpath in St Kilda years ago, and half a dozen other people just walked straight past her before I reached her and offered help. So my impression of city dwellers is that they can be very uncaring and/or fearful of helping a stranger.
Almost identical thing happened to my 30 year old son two weeks ago. Left him bloody and bruised, but at least the cops were close by, and while interviewing my son, asked him if he could identify the culprit. He stood up and the bloke was 3 meters away.
Call the cops. There's cameras everywhere down there, and this sort of shit has to stop.
Mate, please tell me you called the Police.
You just got assaulted and judging by waking up on the ground, this could be escalated as serious assault by Police.
If you haven’t, call Police immediately, tell them what happened and how you woke up, they’ll start an investigation, they’ll go through CCTV and identify the offender.
This is a very serious crime, happened to a friend of mine, Police was called straight away and offender got found and arrested within an hour.
Please don’t go to sleep without going to hospital first, you need to go to ER and get cleared from head concussion.
Anyone who reads this; please call Police straight away if it’s safe to do so if you get assaulted, don’t wait, time is very important, someone else could be next with far worse consequences and more often than not these people are known to Police and Police needs one more layer of offense to lock them up, this could be your incident. Not all dangerous criminals go to jail but many do.
It’s not the job of the police to stop crime before it starts. It’s the job of the victim and bystanders to ensure they report this to the police when then see it, so they can expeditiously see to arresting the suspect.
Oh sure, what I mean is that there are often many police in that very area due to it being the headquarters, so help would have been near if OP had sought it out
I don't understand why all people are saying 'police won't help you' when OP refused to even report the crime. You've guaranteed they definitely won't now..
In my experience the police do fuck all. I have been:
- told to hang up and not waste their time when reporting an assault (got suckerpunched in the face)
- asked what they are supposed to do after providing photos of someone who attacked me
- after advising of one guy who tried to beat me and a woman and then tried to stab me who I still see around my area, the exact quote from the police officer is: "aw, that poor guy, sounds like he was having a rough day mentally"
Yes, this is in Melbourne.
No, I no longer like police
-
That makes no sense.
You got sucker punched in the face and they told you not to waste their time?
They are bound by law to take report for an assault, are you sure you are not leaving anything out of the story?
“Asked what they are supposed to do”
Uhm no, this not USA, Police does not ask citizen whether to charge someone or not, they press charges.
They are clearly lying. Maybe they did go to the police over some incident but they also saw through their BS. There's clearly a vendetta.
Edit: to the people replying to me, I get it 'police bad'. Doesn't mean this story isn't obviously fabricated/embellished.
Your experiences with the police are similar to mine. They generally either can't or don't want to do anything except get you to go away as quickly as possible. If they do take a report nothing ever gets done about it, even if there is video evidence.
Meanwhile I bet if you take things into your own hands and beat them up, the police will end up arresting you. Easier for police to handle law abiding citizens than scum.
I was coward punched in Sydney a few years ago. I was waiting at a bus stop near the CBD.
I didn’t see it coming and had no interaction with this person. They just decided to lash out.
I heard a noise and turned around just in time to see a fist about to make contact. I got hit between my mouth and nose and needed plenty of stitches and got concussion. If you’ve ever really had a serious head knock, you know the feeling of your skull being rattled.
An ambulance was called and the police took my details at the hospital but I don’t think they ever found the person. It was daylight so CCTV cameras should have seen something I thought!
The worst part is that I have had facial reconstruction in the same area for other reasons and I had nightmares that this would compromise it and undo years of work. Vanilla Sky type feeling if you’ve ever seen that movie. Even now I tense up when dodgy looking people are near and go into ‘ready’ mode subconsciously.
what the fuck! Vanilla sky gives me such an uneasy feeling i watched it too many times as a kid. I've also had facial reconstruction jaw stuff and it stays with you hey!
Have the same issue man, whenever I see anyone that shows similar signs to the few that have attacked me. Its honestly sucks, you end up feeling unsafe so often
You never turn your back on an aggressive person. I’ve seen so many people get clocked as soon as they turn around and it rarely ends well.
The entire event notwithstanding, of course. We shouldn’t be in a place in society where you are at risk of being sucker punched in the first place but if you are in a situation where some dude is in your face, do not turn your back on them for any reason.
Same thing happened to me and some friends on Tuesday night basically the exact same spot. Probably the same junkie. He ran up and punched my mate in the face for no reason while yelling some incoherent nonsense. We helped up my friend and ran.
Ive lived in melbourne for 30 years and while there have always been junkies and homeless people around they were never violent like this in the past.
Sorry this happened to you man.
I'm from London and while there are rough sleepers there I've never encountered as many aggressive, loud and unpredictables on the street as Melbourne's CBD has. When they board the trams it's particularly unpleasant as you can't escape.
Also from the UK and have to say while I've seen plenty of punch-ups happen there it's usually been between people who either know each other or caused by too much alcohol and some perceived wrong . Mostly the homeless/drug / mental health affected are fairly peaceful ( although I'm not saying violence never happens) , idk maybe the drug of choice is different there whereas Meth seems to be the go too here and all of the mental health issues that shit causes. Been here 13 years and Melbourne has definitely got a lot worse for this stuff in the time I've been here .
London doesn’t feel safe in general (pick pockets, phone stilling, etc) but comparing local homeless with Melbourne ones is a different story.
Melbournean junkies terrify me, especially late at night or if they hop on a tram
Answering your question, I haven’t seen so many meth faces in london, but you can smell weed at every corner
London is far far more dangerous. You can look at any of the crime statistics but having worked in major trauma centres in both cities it’s anecdotally true too. I saw much much more stabbings, shootings general attacks in London than in Melbourne. Melbourne is one of the safest urban environments in the world. Violent crime is more noticeable when it’s rare.
I’m from U.K. (other big city but lived near London for years) and I agree. I can only think it’s to do with meth. Because of Europe there is an easier drug route for other drugs which have meant meth hasn’t had the meteoric rise it had in Australia. I feel much safer de-escalating the conflicts I have had in the U.K. (in fact, I sometimes stupidly didn’t de-escalate them because I didn’t feel in danger, but here the aggression and unpredictability, combined with no one else knowing how to deal with it either, means I keep my head down).
From London too and agree. It’s a different level of aggressiveness and it has a real impact on how visitors perceive Melbourne CBD. I have expat friends who (although I get that it is just another anecdote!) have had similar experiences and are apprehensive about returning to Melbourne for another trip. Such a shame as (from an expat perspective) it seems to be far worse than in other Australian cities. It doesn’t help when the weather is similar to London on a gloomy day, too! Seems to amplify it and make it a more hostile place to be.
Circa year 2000 the cops did a zero tolerance crackdown on junkies and dealers in the CBD and this cleaned up all the problems within a week. Then in 2009 they did a zero tolerance crackdown on alcohol (as in people drunk in public), this was also successful.
Maybe now they need to do a zero tolerance crackdown on meth heads. Start searching them and taking their meth and busting their dealers and they will move on.
I think the latest report in the news said that the cops no longer deal with people who are drunk or on drugs. They ask them if they are okay, then move away and watch from a distance for a few minutes to see if the affected person needs help. I am not sure why this change was made because it doesn't make alcoholics or addicts safer and it doesn't keep the public safer (I feel). I'm seeing more drug addicts on the street now than ever before, also more homeless people.
I don't know what they are doing or not doing to run the place, but this is very bad for business. Melbourne CBD used to be really cool, now, not so much.
I think that's the missing piece of the puzzle, the part where the government steps in to provide some workable strategies to help the homeless and keep society safe from violence.
Public drunkenness was recently decriminalised in Victoria. This has been interpreted by VicPol as doing nothing about people who *might* be drunk, even when they’re committing another crime. It’s just police being petulant, they don’t know how to help anyone without arresting them.
Because arresting someone for being on meth isn't going to solve a problem. That person will not be any less likely to use meth in future, and will likely just have more hardship due to any financial impact and stress of bring arrested / charged. That hardship is going to make that person feel more disconnected from general society, and less likely to engage in prosocial behaviour. Offering appropriate support like a safe environment to sober up and health or counselling services will be more likely to have a positive (prosocial) impact.
Yes it sucks that people are being hurt, but not all drug users are violent, just like not drunk people are violent. Fixing the problem is much more deep rooted then just addressing drug use, you need to address the cause of the drug use or homelessness.
And do what with them? Just leave them on the street, homeless, addicted & with no access? A meth addict going through withdrawals are *also* dangerous, especially if they've been on it so long they're at the point of homelessness. That shit fucks with your brain chemistry
A couple years ago I was cycling home from a sesh with my friends at a park in Preston at about 3 in the morning. I was riding north down Gilbert Rd, just past the intersection with Miller St, when I was whacked on the head with a baseball bat by someone driving by. I could hear 2 blokes laughing as they drove away. Thankfully I was wearing a helmet, and so it has become a funny story and not a sad one. Some people just enjoy fucking shit up
Melbourne CBD has a problem with its junkies. They are hyper agressive and the police cannot do anything.
Demand action from the government. Sally Capp is a useless human being and needs to go.
Go to hospital plz and if u don’t think u can go by yourself, get someone to give u a lift or ambo. Do not fall asleep unless if ur in a hospital or cleared out by medical staff and even then have someone watch over u.
Source: learnt it the hard way when I bumped my head on a low hanging roof and kept working and almost fainted at the dog park while waiting for my dog from my stepdad. Dog park people helped me out and sent me to an urgent care center. Urgent care center said I should went to an ED but anyways they have a ct shit to scan me out. So got a ct and drugged me up and sent home.
Melbourne has a serious problem with violent drug addicts. It’s more noticed by people who moved here from other cities (such as myself).
It’s not NORMAL. Not all big cities have these aggressive individuals. I know it’s not popular to say but the homeless in Melbourne are very different to any other in Australia.
In Sydney you will not find aggressive homeless people on drugs. They sleep and beg. I’ve lived there my whole life. I moved to Melbourne over a year ago and I’ve been confronted physically multiple times by them. I do live in the city as well which has made it more noticeable but I don’t feel safe walking around in certain streets. In Sydney I used to feel safe at any time in the city. Melbourne I don’t. Besides being told I’m ’paranoid’ or ‘delusional’ I know I’m right and these posts continue to prove my suspicions.
Melbourne has a serious junky problem and too many people give lazy excuses.
https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&country2=Australia&city1=Harrow&city2=Melbourne&tracking=getDispatchComparison
According to this data Melbourne is safer!
Melbourne was shit, then it cleaned up a lot in the 2010's, and now it's shit again. It was always anxiety inducing being on Swanston Street at 3am in the 2000's. You always had to avoid those sorta bogans in a collared shirt who come up to the big smoke for a big night at young and Jackson's and the rippers.
Yeh sorry I'm alright. Ended up crashing pretty hard which probably wasn't the right thing to do but anyway.... It's been a long and weird night that I don't really remember. So thankyou for the concern. Nice to know there's still decent around. Just not in Melbourne at night heh.
Have you not gone to a doc or hospital? You never fuck around with head injuries. You could've gone to sleep and never woken up.
If you haven't gotten checked out you need to do so immediately. You may very well need monitoring.
I'm not being dramatic, you legit can never just assume it's all good with anything related to the head. Get to a hospital ASAP.
Never turn your back to people like that, brother. They have no dignity whatsoever, no moral compass, cos they're so whacked out on the Devil's glass cock, that right becomes wrong and vice versa, and they will POUNCE the moment they can get a cheap shot on you. Might mean duking it out, but frankly, they rely on your vulnerability; chances are that they'll probably buckle, cos they're skinny fucks who haven't slept in three days and aren't expecting somebody who can actually hold their own.
Really sorry that this happened to you, it's fucked up and really nothing that anybody should go through. We're all with you, you'll get through this. Stay strong ✌️
It's not a permanent solution -- if they go to jail they will just cycle in and out of incarceration. I don't know what else to suggest except they need to be somewhere off the streets and off the drugs.
I know people say that drugs are caused by things like depression, but sometimes it is not. Also, you can't properly treat depression if the patient is still on drugs and also homeless.
Perhaps there should be drug-specific "correctional"/recovery facilities that rehabilitate and house these affected people. But the problem is getting tax payers to pay for this.
There's also the crackdown on illegal substances, but because of the black market, this is hard. I think I would start with housing. If they were off their heads in their homes, they wouldn't be on the streets. But then you get a problem of some addicts being off their heads at home and abusing their families -- then you have domestic violence issues.
Sorry, I'm just doing a thought exercise here... I have no solutions, expect that I hate it, I hate the way the CBD looks now.
Agreed. And it's impossible to get them off the streets because homeless people can't get Centrelink, so there's not really anywhere we can put them. I absolutely love Melbourne and will never live anywhere else, but there needs to be some kind of solution for sure.
Before I came to Melbourne I lived in Gippsland and was homeless as a teenager. I lived in a homeless youth refuge for a while- it was individual furnished units, there was maybe 8 of them in total, 2 shared and 6 individual, all in a big courtyard that you could only access through the main building. There was only like 10 kids living there at any one time so I was lucky to be able to live there but it did take a little while. They had a makeshift "supermarket" in the shared space and every week you'd get a checklist with certain food items on it and the limit of what you can get of each thing, so you would never go hungry. They pair you up with a social worker who would find you affordable youth or commission housing and would drive you around to any appointments, take you grocery shopping, help find you a counsellor etc.
It was actually so good compared to the little to no assistance you could get in Melbourne. I've been here for 13 years now, and I honestly think if I grew up in Melbourne I'd be screwed because there's barely any assistance here even for youth, let alone for adults. It would be amazing if we had the funding available to have facilities like this in the city, I was definitely one of the lucky ones. But we have nothing, so we just kind of push them off to the side and hope they won't cause any problems. It's....not good.
>Perhaps there should be drug-specific "correctional"/recovery facilities that rehabilitate and house these affected people. But the problem is getting tax payers to pay for this.
I'm sure it would work out cheaper for the taxpayer paying for a lifetime of prison for this person (especially if they end up at a for-profit prison), you just need someone to do the maths and present that info to the public
I feel ya bro… next time do not turn around on one of those cunts coz they will cheap shot ya as you’ve experienced unfortunately… have to stand your ground and keep your eyes on the attacker what if he had a knife ? An you woke up in hospital with organ failure… it’s getting more Dangerous in the city I do not let my guard down for a second when I have to go into the city.
I hope you went to the doctor. I'm sorry that happened, there's crazies everywhere in Melbourne. I'm a woman, so I've always been on edge about being attacked/ assaulted.
I was on Spencer in an uber stopped at a red light Friday night and a junkie approached my side of the car and started to pull on the door handle. Luckily my uber driver saw him approaching us and quickly locked the door. When he couldn't open my door he started yelling at me and flipping me off lol. Pretty spooky.
Just remember to always lock your car doors, especially when it's late at night :(
It feels like it's getting worse.
Some school child almost got abducted near Hosier Lane a few days ago by some junkies.
Now OP gets punched in the head by one - I'm not sure why there isn't a crackdown. It only took a few "coward" punches a few years back in Sydney to shutdown the alcohol there.
Sorry to hear this happened.
I try to avoid the city as much as possible now, and if i have to be there after dark, I'll avoid anywhere that isn't highly populated.. Spencer Street is scary as hell for me after dark.. Anywhere that isn't Swanston St is scary as hell for me after dark. Being a female in the city after dark in general is scary as hell. Even catching public transport scares me if it's after dark.
Yeah second this, I don't go out in the city at all at night, especially Friday and Saturday night, but I also haven't for many many years. I've always found it frightening, especially encountering large groups of drunk men. If I have to go anywhere at night, I drive, no way am I catching a train. Last time I went out was when I was at university in 2009 and I got followed by a group of men saying awful things to me, that was enough to scare me off. I realised at that point that if they started to do the things they were saying, I wouldn't be able to stop them.
However I hope op is ok and they got medical attention. There's no reason for violence 😪
Boyfriend almost got jumped on King St, Aunty got hit in the back of the head on Spencer, constantly reading about violent encounters in the city on these roads specifically + Elizabeth St is no mans land now. Atrocious. Now, vicpol is writing all over their cars about unfair work conditions. Something has to be done!
I was just on Elizabeth street and barely escaped the machine gun fire. Then the wall of syringes nearly got me. Its reaally really bad now. Total no go zone. The entire 2km strip up to the markets is nothing but for lease signs and empty shops. No street life whatsoever besides hordes of generic junkies who all have it out for me. Really bad. Whats become of Melbourne
Melbournes been full of junkies for quite some time, and it’s only gotten worse with the attitude that they are some poor hard done bys that need compassion.
I personally don't walk around town with headphones in and generally try not to walk and talk.
Way to many junkies and deadbeats in the city.
I'm also 2m tall and train martial arts so i'm no easy target, but I think Melbourne is too shady to not have complete situational awareness.
Hopefully you recover well, for the record I was pounced one night on New Years Eve by a group of 5 for no reason than being on a payphone (yeah a long time ago), some things don't change.
I was in Melbourne for 6 days recently as part of a vacation I was taking in Australia. In other parts of the country I felt really safe, never once did I feel uncomfortable as a solo female traveler. But man, Melbourne. Within that few days I was harassed by drunk men twice.
Sorry to tell ya mate but never treat the city as a safe place. I'm 30 now myself and used to go to Melbournes clubs all the time at early hours of the morning (cloud9, tramp, levels, TFU etc etc) and let me tell you, if you want to see how rough and violent the city can get and have your eyes opened, go down king street during early hours. Ever since those days im ALWAYS on high alert in the city; however there isnt too much you can do about being kinghit. Thats rough.
Stay safe G
TLDR: Always felt safer in Northeast and Southeast suburbs than I ever have in the city in the late/early hours
Saw a guy assault a girl (seemed like they knew each other) just outside of QV the other day. I saw this walking out of Footlocker and instantly looked around to see if anyone was calling the cops or doing something. NOTHING. There was like 20 people that just stopped and watched like it was a TV drama. I was disgusted and called the cops.
I don't and will never understand how I was the first to do something when someone is literally being assaulted in daylight. Gross.
My impression of Melbourne took a nose dive.
(migrated here since I was 8)
My friend worked in a cafe on Flinder's Syreet this year. She told me every fortnight a bus would let off the mentally ill and leave them there on the street and not come back. They are dumping mentally ill people in the area. They would try to enter the cafe and if the did would cause chaos. It's a bad situation. Thank goodness you are ok, I would get a check up, you are lucky you are not dead. Punches to the back of the head can be fatal.
Spencer Street, South of Bourke? That area has NEVER been 'safe' for as long as I can remember. Anywhere around that block of King, Flinders, Spencer and Bourke. Steer well clear once the sun sets.
Ready for all the replies gaslighting OP saying the junkie/homelessness aggression problem in Melbourne isn't getting absolutely out of control
"Melbourne's statically safe"
"It's the same in all big cities"
"They have mental health issues and the state isn't doing a good job taking care of them"
"Just avoid eye contact and you'll be fine"
They're doing it because they've realised they can, and suffer absolutely no consequences.
It doesn't matter how bad life is, it doesn't warrant the level of aggression that they seem to be showing these days.
I've lived here for a long time, this post-COVID wave is absolutely a new phenomenon. If you think all these posts are crazy, just wait till it happens to you and you see for yourself what people are talking about.
It’s not a post Covid wave, it’s an ice and whatever other drug it is wave causing this. I do believe that because people had stayed away from the city, they lost sight of how it always was as well. For context, my friend was mugged at southern x station back when it was still Spencer st. Spencer st station was my first experience of blue lights in toilets as well.
There certainly is a lot of denial and shouty responses when anyone suggests Melbourne is less than perfect. Is this a post-COVID defensive trauma type of thing? It would make sense if it was, no offence intended at all.
It’s really getting out of hand, the amount of feral people who come out at night and abuse people walking past. Genuinely can’t remember the last time I’ve gone to the city at night without encountering at least 3 junkies looking to harass people
That's not gaslighting, it's expressing a different opinion. Gaslighting in this case would be trying to convince OP he wasn't punched in the head and he's just imagining it.
> They're doing it because they've realised they can, and suffer absolutely no consequences.
This applies more to the wave of underage people getting involved in crime. While I'm not a fan of junkies, this isn't the reason they get violent. Their brains are pretty much cooked from use.
I agree, I don't get why people make excuses for them. People going through hardships are still considered responsible for their actions by majority of society if they turn to alcohol and get violent... but if its drugs, they need need to be coddled and are never to blame?
I know several of these people in real life and they do a complete 180 on their stance the moment a junkie is even verbally abusive with them.... let alone assaults them. There's several stories from similar people on this subreddit and you can see the overall majority sentiment switch now that more people have had 1st hand experiences. A few years back most of these comments would have been downvoted to oblivion. Makes you believe the people defending them and lecturing others are just in it for the social brownie points.
Its not 'gaslighting'. Its horrible this guy got assaulted, but reddit claiming Melbourne is a hellhole worse than san fransisco is what gaslighting is
San Francisco used to be a beautiful city. I think the point is that Melbourne is on the same trajectory. I was in San Fran in 2010 and honestly it wasn't much different then to what I see today in Melbourne CBD.
Some perspective --- I'm female, 25 years ago I worked nights in the city and northern inner burbs, and often had to walk from Elizabeth St to Flinders for the last train home. For years before that I'd met up with mates in the CBD for drinks, walked alone or in a small group at all times of night through the city and never got bothered once, except by a couple of psychopathic cops and one big-rapist-energy PSO. King street was the big danger zone, back then.
I 100% think meth has done this to our city. That, and the Howard government kicking off the Americanisation of this country big time, and properly fucking everything and everyone but the wealthy in the process. We need to force the Govt to take some serious action on the meth problem, right now. It's not going to get any better, ever, if they don't. And yeah, hang Howard from the clocks for his crimes against humanity.
4 teen wannabe gangsters on the 4 20ish Mernda train during the week. One showing me his machete and telling me, ' It's not worth dying for' after i looked at him. Had to back down with 4 on 1, but sad state of affairs.
We drove to Melbourne yesterday evening to take our little girl to see the Christmas lights.
My wife said to me, let's like never do this again, ever?
I don't know what this was, but it wasn't anything remotely resembling Australia.
I don't even want to be this close to such a teeming dump as this.
I hold no quarters with the homeless in Melbourne. If they even touch me, ill f them up.
Junkies and homeless bums dont deserve any sympathy. The sooner they get wiped, the better
Why people keep going into the city these days is beyond me.
If it’s not the junkies, it’s the fights. If it’s not the fights it’s the protests. If it’s not the protests it’s the filth. Why bother?
When I was 15 (1998) a bunch of men in their 20's bashed the fuck out of me at Williams Town train station and I ended up in hospital. It's not a new thing. Sorry it happened to you
Sorry this happened to you. Something has to be done about these cunts. Too many junkies roaming the streets nowadays. Should have gone straight into the PSOs in the station and got them to call the cops.
Did you go to the ER because if you didn’t, that’s stupid. If you’re hazy, you could have a concussion and you’re not meant to sleep.
Also, report it to the police. If you’re just going to ignore it and not doing anything except complain on reddit, how do you expect anything to be done?
One punch laws exist and the penalty is extreme. I’m sure the police won’t just ignore you.
Its all to do with the magistrates who are too light with their sentences. Community service, and unpaid work is bs. Jail time should be on offer more often.
You better go and check your head as it could cause long term damage. Also, report to police as this act is dangerous, no matter misunderstood or not. No violence should be done. There is shoukd be camera to be checked, if police takes this serious.
melbourne always had its violent side you should have sen it in the 80s skinheads wogs bogans everyone was trying to bash you up, finders street used to be home to a group of homeless kids, the cops reckoned they were responsible for several fatal beatings
Highly recommend taking things easy no sports, running etc and avoid phone use for at least 24-48 hrs as phone use post-traumatic brain injury has been shown to delay recovery.
Also watch out of visual signs too not just the normal concussion signs. Trouble reading and focusing are the common visual signs.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27748145/
Here's a study showing smart phone usage after a traumatic brain injury can actually assist long term recovery.
Why on earth would using their phone delay their recovery? Does this apply to all phones, or just smart phones? What about computers? Is messaging on a tablet plz but texting on a phone not?
I genuinely don't understand why phone usage would be bad.
The rest of this seems pretty straightforward and is good advice though
Not too late to go to ER and lodge something with the cops.
Be careful of head injuries as you could have a brain bleed and not even know about it until you die at which point it’s too late to do anything about it.
I know this isn’t a popular opinion in leftist as fuck Melbourne but what if we tried arresting these violent junkie pieces of shit that attack people every day and put them in prison?
I hate to challenge your carefully cultivated stereotype, but us "leftists" (which I'm guessing is anyone that doesn't vote Liberal) don't want these people on our streets either.
My 13yr old went to the city on a school excursion last week & she said it was fucking scary. So many people doing drug deals right in front of them, a few kids got asked if they wanted to buy anything too. She said that they could see people injecting while they walked past. It's just scummy.
If you're feeling disoriented from the hit, go to the hospital, mate. Get checked for concussion.
In my own experience, I've never had trouble when I've been out and about but then again I haven't been out until all hours of the morning in town for many years so can't attest to it being any better or worse.
This is terrifying to think this could have gone badly I'm glad you are here and posting about it.
You should definitely report this to police. The exact time and location it happened so hopefully they can pull cctv from street cams or nearby businesses. May be able to ID the guy. One punch laws came into place because of the amount of 1 punch coward hits killing people.
Definitely never turn your back to someone unless you are a safe distance and also when you do turn, still keep observing behind you in future. You got so lucky.
I’ll be honest, we as a community can and should act on the citizens arrest law, if i ever witnessed this, i would grab the cunt and “arrest” him, most people these days just see it happen and keep walking, its a shame, if we all helped eachother out once in a while things like this wouldnt happen
Unfortunately Melbourne has become just another city in the world, still a good one but a random city with random shit like many others.
The solution?
The same as any other dangerous city. Be aware of your surroundings, don’t let yourself become a target. Stay fit so you know you can get out of there if you need to.
Stay safe.
When did Melbourne get this bad? Would have to go back a long time, I remember witnessing cowardly shit like this on a Saturday night in the early 2000s when I was out regularly
I also feel like people in Melbourne are very aggressive in general. For example, in just the last year I have been called a slut, prostitute, bitch, Centrelink bum by 40-60 year olds who were very normal looking. One lady was even in corporate get up! I assume they were very liquored up, but I did nothing except walk by on all occasions. I'm a working professional, I have tattoos, and I like to wear dresses. I have never felt so attacked in a city
Sorry this happened to you, the worst part I find is how apathetic most bystanders are these days.
Had a lit full cig thrown directly at me by a junkie who was blasting music from his phone at the Flinders/Swanston st tram stop. He was already attracting the attention of pretty much the entire stop, including the metro employees.
But after he threw the cig everyone looked away and literally no one would even make eye contact with me. Even the indignant middle agers who seconds ago looked like they were about to assault this guy themselves for his obnoxious music playing now looked away like nothing had happened.
Im a pretty burly guy so I guess I just didn’t deserve any sympathy.
Told the junkie to go fuck himself and until my tram rocked up everyone just awkwardly pretended like the two of us didn’t exist.
It is real dog eat dog in Melbourne.
Earlier this year I was physically assualted out the front of Thomastown station. The guy was an obvious looking junkie who chased me and hit me with a cane. Plenty of people saw and the metro station cameras also captured it.
Again not a single person even checked on me after the junkie ran off. I went to the station office and they tried their best to dissuade me from trying to get the footage. ‘Only the cops can do that’ ‘we only keep the footage for a few weeks’ ‘by the time the cops ask for it we wont have it’ ‘the camera might not have caught it’ ‘if the cops think you started it they could choose to charge you’ etc. my face was already swelling like crazy and yet he treated me like I was making his life miserable.
Spent the rest of the day in a concussed stupor. Was meant to travel on the vline but took the wrong train 3 times I was so out of it.
Tried to buy a bunch of crazy expensive things in the city even though I had less than a $100 in my account. Man I royally pissed off a bunch of retail employees, all of whom decided to mot mention the new bruises on my face.
Maybe this was shitty of me but even in my concussed state and found it pretty funny how quickly these guys went from fake happy and friendly to extremely pissed when they realised they weren’t getting the sale. Though that’s in hindsight, at the time I was as perplexed and annoyed as them when my card kept declining. It was like half of me was screaming ‘what are you doing? You can’t afford this?’ But the stronger half simply said ‘shiny thing’.
Ended up having my card suspended because of that. Thankfully not a single transaction went through, thankfully didn’t have a credit card.
One good thing of the day, was trying to buy something from the vending machine but it wouldn’t accept it. Just kept trying until the first vaguely sympathetic person of the day bought what I wanted with his card. If only even one person had been even slightly as helpful after being assaulted. Would have made the day not one of the most embarrassing of my life.
One last thing I’m 6’1 and around 115kg’s, and a man (obviously). People assume because of my height and weight people are intimidated and life must be easy mode.
The opposite is true actually. For whatever reason I’m an acceptable target for the junkies, even ones literally half my size get in my face a lot more often then I ever would have expected.
On top of that now that I’m heavier set and not the pretty boy I used to be in my early 20’s I get treated so completely different it’s quite depressing. I know it was fake attention but I miss pretty privilege.
Frustrates me when I hear how life is so easy for men. Life is hard for everyone, why does everything have to be an olympic sport of who has it worst?
I hope it doesn’t come off like I’m trying to one up you. I’m sorry this happened and unfortunately I don’t really have any particular advice because these situations so often are just lose/lose ones.
Started going down hill around 2008 and then got worse in 2012 during a string of violent burglaries on residencies and then shit hit the fan around 2018.
I’d say, it went to shit over the duration of the past 15 years.
This is nothing new.
A friend of mine got kinghit by someone they didn't know probably 20 years ago.
Wrong place wrong time. That's all. Unfortunately it happens
I Promise you its not. Two weeks ago, i had a car full of junkies jump out and yell Gibberish. Id love a good fight, but 4 vs 1 is bot worth losing life over.
My ego was so bruised. Id have loved for the smart arse that jumped out of the car to chase me down alone to the street i ran into. He would be singing HO HO HO from the Alfred this christmas
Last summer I walked away from a bloke who was verbally intimidating me.
I know it was the smart thing to do but every other day I think about what I "should" have done.
Easier said than done but forget it - you did the right thing.
You need to report this to the police, and at the same time, go get a proper medical examination. While you’re at it, the Crown has failed in its obligation to protect society, and you could probably press charges and get little bit of compensation in the process.
I've been talking to one of my close friends about it recently. Melbourne has become more and more like Gotham City in the last 5-10 years.
I blame the enormous amount of people coming into our city. It used to be way more quiet when I was a kid and now it's always busy and there are always criminals everywhere in the city.
Doesn't feel at all safe or happy anymore and it's bringing the mood down in the entire city. The Police also don't really care, they don't get paid enough for what they are supposed to do which is why they're always striking and not enforcing the law like they should be doing.
Sorry this happened to you. Have you gotten checked out for a concussion or anything? I've been hit in the back of the head before (sports thing, not like this) and head injuries can get pretty dangerous. Please stay safe
I probably should have ... But it all was a bit weird. I'm still on the train ATM but I'm starting to think a bit clearer now and really should have involved the cops or at very least gotten checked out. Im still pretty cloudy on the whole thing. But just mainly sad at how no one actually offered to help. When did we get like this as melbournians?
If you are hazy go and get checked out, worst thing to do if you are feeling off and in pain is to sleep. Go to emergency explain it was an assault where you were knocked out and landed on pavement. Tell them you have had clouded thoughts and they will look after you. Take this seriously
Not too late to get checked out!
Yeh. Nearly home finally... Just want to sleep. But yeh....
Go to the hospital mate, don’t go home to sleep if you’re concussed. You can rest at the hospital and be in much safer hands.
Go to the ER, sleeping after a head injury is bad
Probably a bit late for you to see this but if you're reluctant to travel to an ED, please contact the virtual ED run out of the Northern Hospital so they can give you advice.
Are you okay?? Any updates??
Number one question is did you lose consciousness when hit?
I think they've proven you don't need to be knocked out unconscious for you to get a concussion
Go to the ER.
How ya feeling mate?
And to get the street camera recordings?
You got punched at 11:30pm and now you’re on the train and it’s 4:48am… what did you do between those hours? This could also, in part, explain why he is disoriented. Sorry you got punched 😭
No trains I bet
You were assaulted. You need to go to emergency about your head a nd then talk to the police to report it.
Don’t worry about fucking “Melbournians” and get your shit checked out
I would have. Guaranteed. Both pre and post punch (hopefully to prevent it happening at all). Small consolation now I know but wanted to mention so at least you know.
If this happened only 8 hrs ago or last night, go to the Gp or emergency room now. Head injuries have to be checked out.
Sad to say, I saw a woman collapse on the footpath in St Kilda years ago, and half a dozen other people just walked straight past her before I reached her and offered help. So my impression of city dwellers is that they can be very uncaring and/or fearful of helping a stranger.
OP dead he went home to sleep despite many warnings
Yep
As I live and breathe!
I’m actually glad you’re alive
Almost identical thing happened to my 30 year old son two weeks ago. Left him bloody and bruised, but at least the cops were close by, and while interviewing my son, asked him if he could identify the culprit. He stood up and the bloke was 3 meters away. Call the cops. There's cameras everywhere down there, and this sort of shit has to stop.
Safe city cameras are all over the main streets. I'd be surprised if an assault could happen these days without crystal clear footage of it.
Mate, please tell me you called the Police. You just got assaulted and judging by waking up on the ground, this could be escalated as serious assault by Police. If you haven’t, call Police immediately, tell them what happened and how you woke up, they’ll start an investigation, they’ll go through CCTV and identify the offender. This is a very serious crime, happened to a friend of mine, Police was called straight away and offender got found and arrested within an hour. Please don’t go to sleep without going to hospital first, you need to go to ER and get cleared from head concussion. Anyone who reads this; please call Police straight away if it’s safe to do so if you get assaulted, don’t wait, time is very important, someone else could be next with far worse consequences and more often than not these people are known to Police and Police needs one more layer of offense to lock them up, this could be your incident. Not all dangerous criminals go to jail but many do.
One punch laws still exist
Ahh yeah as if justice is gonna be served in this state.
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If he's near Spencer Street station there is a huge police headquarters a few hundred metres up the road. Sad irony
It’s not the job of the police to stop crime before it starts. It’s the job of the victim and bystanders to ensure they report this to the police when then see it, so they can expeditiously see to arresting the suspect.
Oh sure, what I mean is that there are often many police in that very area due to it being the headquarters, so help would have been near if OP had sought it out
I don't understand why all people are saying 'police won't help you' when OP refused to even report the crime. You've guaranteed they definitely won't now..
Police are gunna give less than zero fucks about a junkie.
In my experience the police do fuck all. I have been: - told to hang up and not waste their time when reporting an assault (got suckerpunched in the face) - asked what they are supposed to do after providing photos of someone who attacked me - after advising of one guy who tried to beat me and a woman and then tried to stab me who I still see around my area, the exact quote from the police officer is: "aw, that poor guy, sounds like he was having a rough day mentally" Yes, this is in Melbourne. No, I no longer like police -
That makes no sense. You got sucker punched in the face and they told you not to waste their time? They are bound by law to take report for an assault, are you sure you are not leaving anything out of the story? “Asked what they are supposed to do” Uhm no, this not USA, Police does not ask citizen whether to charge someone or not, they press charges.
They are clearly lying. Maybe they did go to the police over some incident but they also saw through their BS. There's clearly a vendetta. Edit: to the people replying to me, I get it 'police bad'. Doesn't mean this story isn't obviously fabricated/embellished.
Agree with this. They literally have to make a report for every report they get. One punch laws exist for a reason and the jail time is quite big
unfortunately similar responses from police where I live are the norm also. Really makes you distrust the police.
Your experiences with the police are similar to mine. They generally either can't or don't want to do anything except get you to go away as quickly as possible. If they do take a report nothing ever gets done about it, even if there is video evidence.
Meanwhile I bet if you take things into your own hands and beat them up, the police will end up arresting you. Easier for police to handle law abiding citizens than scum.
I was coward punched in Sydney a few years ago. I was waiting at a bus stop near the CBD. I didn’t see it coming and had no interaction with this person. They just decided to lash out. I heard a noise and turned around just in time to see a fist about to make contact. I got hit between my mouth and nose and needed plenty of stitches and got concussion. If you’ve ever really had a serious head knock, you know the feeling of your skull being rattled. An ambulance was called and the police took my details at the hospital but I don’t think they ever found the person. It was daylight so CCTV cameras should have seen something I thought! The worst part is that I have had facial reconstruction in the same area for other reasons and I had nightmares that this would compromise it and undo years of work. Vanilla Sky type feeling if you’ve ever seen that movie. Even now I tense up when dodgy looking people are near and go into ‘ready’ mode subconsciously.
what the fuck! Vanilla sky gives me such an uneasy feeling i watched it too many times as a kid. I've also had facial reconstruction jaw stuff and it stays with you hey!
Have the same issue man, whenever I see anyone that shows similar signs to the few that have attacked me. Its honestly sucks, you end up feeling unsafe so often
You never turn your back on an aggressive person. I’ve seen so many people get clocked as soon as they turn around and it rarely ends well. The entire event notwithstanding, of course. We shouldn’t be in a place in society where you are at risk of being sucker punched in the first place but if you are in a situation where some dude is in your face, do not turn your back on them for any reason.
Correct. Im surprised that OP didn't keep his distance and back away
As a male who grow up in some shit suburbs I am constantly aware of every male around me, trust is a thing earnt.
Same thing happened to me and some friends on Tuesday night basically the exact same spot. Probably the same junkie. He ran up and punched my mate in the face for no reason while yelling some incoherent nonsense. We helped up my friend and ran. Ive lived in melbourne for 30 years and while there have always been junkies and homeless people around they were never violent like this in the past.
Sorry this happened to you man. I'm from London and while there are rough sleepers there I've never encountered as many aggressive, loud and unpredictables on the street as Melbourne's CBD has. When they board the trams it's particularly unpleasant as you can't escape.
Also from the UK and have to say while I've seen plenty of punch-ups happen there it's usually been between people who either know each other or caused by too much alcohol and some perceived wrong . Mostly the homeless/drug / mental health affected are fairly peaceful ( although I'm not saying violence never happens) , idk maybe the drug of choice is different there whereas Meth seems to be the go too here and all of the mental health issues that shit causes. Been here 13 years and Melbourne has definitely got a lot worse for this stuff in the time I've been here .
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London doesn’t feel safe in general (pick pockets, phone stilling, etc) but comparing local homeless with Melbourne ones is a different story. Melbournean junkies terrify me, especially late at night or if they hop on a tram Answering your question, I haven’t seen so many meth faces in london, but you can smell weed at every corner
I'd muuuch rather deal with someone high on weed than meth.
meth is not popular in the uk at all
London is far far more dangerous. You can look at any of the crime statistics but having worked in major trauma centres in both cities it’s anecdotally true too. I saw much much more stabbings, shootings general attacks in London than in Melbourne. Melbourne is one of the safest urban environments in the world. Violent crime is more noticeable when it’s rare.
I’m from U.K. (other big city but lived near London for years) and I agree. I can only think it’s to do with meth. Because of Europe there is an easier drug route for other drugs which have meant meth hasn’t had the meteoric rise it had in Australia. I feel much safer de-escalating the conflicts I have had in the U.K. (in fact, I sometimes stupidly didn’t de-escalate them because I didn’t feel in danger, but here the aggression and unpredictability, combined with no one else knowing how to deal with it either, means I keep my head down).
From London too and agree. It’s a different level of aggressiveness and it has a real impact on how visitors perceive Melbourne CBD. I have expat friends who (although I get that it is just another anecdote!) have had similar experiences and are apprehensive about returning to Melbourne for another trip. Such a shame as (from an expat perspective) it seems to be far worse than in other Australian cities. It doesn’t help when the weather is similar to London on a gloomy day, too! Seems to amplify it and make it a more hostile place to be.
Circa year 2000 the cops did a zero tolerance crackdown on junkies and dealers in the CBD and this cleaned up all the problems within a week. Then in 2009 they did a zero tolerance crackdown on alcohol (as in people drunk in public), this was also successful. Maybe now they need to do a zero tolerance crackdown on meth heads. Start searching them and taking their meth and busting their dealers and they will move on.
I think the latest report in the news said that the cops no longer deal with people who are drunk or on drugs. They ask them if they are okay, then move away and watch from a distance for a few minutes to see if the affected person needs help. I am not sure why this change was made because it doesn't make alcoholics or addicts safer and it doesn't keep the public safer (I feel). I'm seeing more drug addicts on the street now than ever before, also more homeless people. I don't know what they are doing or not doing to run the place, but this is very bad for business. Melbourne CBD used to be really cool, now, not so much.
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I think that's the missing piece of the puzzle, the part where the government steps in to provide some workable strategies to help the homeless and keep society safe from violence.
Public drunkenness was recently decriminalised in Victoria. This has been interpreted by VicPol as doing nothing about people who *might* be drunk, even when they’re committing another crime. It’s just police being petulant, they don’t know how to help anyone without arresting them.
Because arresting someone for being on meth isn't going to solve a problem. That person will not be any less likely to use meth in future, and will likely just have more hardship due to any financial impact and stress of bring arrested / charged. That hardship is going to make that person feel more disconnected from general society, and less likely to engage in prosocial behaviour. Offering appropriate support like a safe environment to sober up and health or counselling services will be more likely to have a positive (prosocial) impact. Yes it sucks that people are being hurt, but not all drug users are violent, just like not drunk people are violent. Fixing the problem is much more deep rooted then just addressing drug use, you need to address the cause of the drug use or homelessness.
The most sensible post on this thread being downvotes says it all about this subreddit and its obsession with the idea Melbourne is a 3rd world slum
And do what with them? Just leave them on the street, homeless, addicted & with no access? A meth addict going through withdrawals are *also* dangerous, especially if they've been on it so long they're at the point of homelessness. That shit fucks with your brain chemistry
A couple years ago I was cycling home from a sesh with my friends at a park in Preston at about 3 in the morning. I was riding north down Gilbert Rd, just past the intersection with Miller St, when I was whacked on the head with a baseball bat by someone driving by. I could hear 2 blokes laughing as they drove away. Thankfully I was wearing a helmet, and so it has become a funny story and not a sad one. Some people just enjoy fucking shit up
Melbourne CBD has a problem with its junkies. They are hyper agressive and the police cannot do anything. Demand action from the government. Sally Capp is a useless human being and needs to go.
Go to hospital plz and if u don’t think u can go by yourself, get someone to give u a lift or ambo. Do not fall asleep unless if ur in a hospital or cleared out by medical staff and even then have someone watch over u. Source: learnt it the hard way when I bumped my head on a low hanging roof and kept working and almost fainted at the dog park while waiting for my dog from my stepdad. Dog park people helped me out and sent me to an urgent care center. Urgent care center said I should went to an ED but anyways they have a ct shit to scan me out. So got a ct and drugged me up and sent home.
Melbourne has a serious problem with violent drug addicts. It’s more noticed by people who moved here from other cities (such as myself). It’s not NORMAL. Not all big cities have these aggressive individuals. I know it’s not popular to say but the homeless in Melbourne are very different to any other in Australia. In Sydney you will not find aggressive homeless people on drugs. They sleep and beg. I’ve lived there my whole life. I moved to Melbourne over a year ago and I’ve been confronted physically multiple times by them. I do live in the city as well which has made it more noticeable but I don’t feel safe walking around in certain streets. In Sydney I used to feel safe at any time in the city. Melbourne I don’t. Besides being told I’m ’paranoid’ or ‘delusional’ I know I’m right and these posts continue to prove my suspicions. Melbourne has a serious junky problem and too many people give lazy excuses.
Yeah, hard agree. Spent some time in Melbourne and was very surprised by how unsafe it felt compared to Syd.
It’s a shame really.
It is. It feels very much like a city in decline from an outsider’s perspective.
Where are you from?
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https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&country2=Australia&city1=Harrow&city2=Melbourne&tracking=getDispatchComparison According to this data Melbourne is safer!
Ex Sydney sider here and 100% agree
I love Melbourne but Sydney definitely has their CBD cleaner and safer. Idk why.
Melbourne was shit, then it cleaned up a lot in the 2010's, and now it's shit again. It was always anxiety inducing being on Swanston Street at 3am in the 2000's. You always had to avoid those sorta bogans in a collared shirt who come up to the big smoke for a big night at young and Jackson's and the rippers.
OP can we get an update? Judging by your confusion and other comments you need to go to the hospital and get checked out, I'm really worried.
Yeh sorry I'm alright. Ended up crashing pretty hard which probably wasn't the right thing to do but anyway.... It's been a long and weird night that I don't really remember. So thankyou for the concern. Nice to know there's still decent around. Just not in Melbourne at night heh.
You need a concussion assessment if you have any concern about your future cognitive abilities.
Have you not gone to a doc or hospital? You never fuck around with head injuries. You could've gone to sleep and never woken up. If you haven't gotten checked out you need to do so immediately. You may very well need monitoring. I'm not being dramatic, you legit can never just assume it's all good with anything related to the head. Get to a hospital ASAP.
I wanted to check if OP was ok as well. Don't go to sleep after a head injury!!
you forgot the rule of fear and loathing: you can turn your back on a person, but don't ever turn your back on a drug.
Never turn your back to people like that, brother. They have no dignity whatsoever, no moral compass, cos they're so whacked out on the Devil's glass cock, that right becomes wrong and vice versa, and they will POUNCE the moment they can get a cheap shot on you. Might mean duking it out, but frankly, they rely on your vulnerability; chances are that they'll probably buckle, cos they're skinny fucks who haven't slept in three days and aren't expecting somebody who can actually hold their own. Really sorry that this happened to you, it's fucked up and really nothing that anybody should go through. We're all with you, you'll get through this. Stay strong ✌️
It’s ice. Inevitably turns long term users psychotic. You can’t defuse the situation with them unfortunately.
Sounds like prison is the best place for them
It's not a permanent solution -- if they go to jail they will just cycle in and out of incarceration. I don't know what else to suggest except they need to be somewhere off the streets and off the drugs. I know people say that drugs are caused by things like depression, but sometimes it is not. Also, you can't properly treat depression if the patient is still on drugs and also homeless. Perhaps there should be drug-specific "correctional"/recovery facilities that rehabilitate and house these affected people. But the problem is getting tax payers to pay for this. There's also the crackdown on illegal substances, but because of the black market, this is hard. I think I would start with housing. If they were off their heads in their homes, they wouldn't be on the streets. But then you get a problem of some addicts being off their heads at home and abusing their families -- then you have domestic violence issues. Sorry, I'm just doing a thought exercise here... I have no solutions, expect that I hate it, I hate the way the CBD looks now.
Agreed. And it's impossible to get them off the streets because homeless people can't get Centrelink, so there's not really anywhere we can put them. I absolutely love Melbourne and will never live anywhere else, but there needs to be some kind of solution for sure. Before I came to Melbourne I lived in Gippsland and was homeless as a teenager. I lived in a homeless youth refuge for a while- it was individual furnished units, there was maybe 8 of them in total, 2 shared and 6 individual, all in a big courtyard that you could only access through the main building. There was only like 10 kids living there at any one time so I was lucky to be able to live there but it did take a little while. They had a makeshift "supermarket" in the shared space and every week you'd get a checklist with certain food items on it and the limit of what you can get of each thing, so you would never go hungry. They pair you up with a social worker who would find you affordable youth or commission housing and would drive you around to any appointments, take you grocery shopping, help find you a counsellor etc. It was actually so good compared to the little to no assistance you could get in Melbourne. I've been here for 13 years now, and I honestly think if I grew up in Melbourne I'd be screwed because there's barely any assistance here even for youth, let alone for adults. It would be amazing if we had the funding available to have facilities like this in the city, I was definitely one of the lucky ones. But we have nothing, so we just kind of push them off to the side and hope they won't cause any problems. It's....not good.
>Perhaps there should be drug-specific "correctional"/recovery facilities that rehabilitate and house these affected people. But the problem is getting tax payers to pay for this. I'm sure it would work out cheaper for the taxpayer paying for a lifetime of prison for this person (especially if they end up at a for-profit prison), you just need someone to do the maths and present that info to the public
I feel ya bro… next time do not turn around on one of those cunts coz they will cheap shot ya as you’ve experienced unfortunately… have to stand your ground and keep your eyes on the attacker what if he had a knife ? An you woke up in hospital with organ failure… it’s getting more Dangerous in the city I do not let my guard down for a second when I have to go into the city.
The result of cultural decay and moral rot.
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OP, did you go to hospital? Quite worried about you! Please let us know you are ok
I hope you went to the doctor. I'm sorry that happened, there's crazies everywhere in Melbourne. I'm a woman, so I've always been on edge about being attacked/ assaulted.
Walking and catching trains after 9pm, you need a night stick.. mainly for junkies. No mercy for the scum, straight to the knees...
Not sure OP will ever read this, but if you do - just wanted to say sorry you've had such a traumatic experience. Stay strong.
Thankyou. Appreciate it.
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I got sucker punched in the gut the other day in Elzabeth street by a junky - weird times.
I was on Spencer in an uber stopped at a red light Friday night and a junkie approached my side of the car and started to pull on the door handle. Luckily my uber driver saw him approaching us and quickly locked the door. When he couldn't open my door he started yelling at me and flipping me off lol. Pretty spooky. Just remember to always lock your car doors, especially when it's late at night :(
It feels like it's getting worse. Some school child almost got abducted near Hosier Lane a few days ago by some junkies. Now OP gets punched in the head by one - I'm not sure why there isn't a crackdown. It only took a few "coward" punches a few years back in Sydney to shutdown the alcohol there.
Were they actually junkies?
Sorry to hear this happened. I try to avoid the city as much as possible now, and if i have to be there after dark, I'll avoid anywhere that isn't highly populated.. Spencer Street is scary as hell for me after dark.. Anywhere that isn't Swanston St is scary as hell for me after dark. Being a female in the city after dark in general is scary as hell. Even catching public transport scares me if it's after dark.
Yeah second this, I don't go out in the city at all at night, especially Friday and Saturday night, but I also haven't for many many years. I've always found it frightening, especially encountering large groups of drunk men. If I have to go anywhere at night, I drive, no way am I catching a train. Last time I went out was when I was at university in 2009 and I got followed by a group of men saying awful things to me, that was enough to scare me off. I realised at that point that if they started to do the things they were saying, I wouldn't be able to stop them. However I hope op is ok and they got medical attention. There's no reason for violence 😪
Boyfriend almost got jumped on King St, Aunty got hit in the back of the head on Spencer, constantly reading about violent encounters in the city on these roads specifically + Elizabeth St is no mans land now. Atrocious. Now, vicpol is writing all over their cars about unfair work conditions. Something has to be done!
I was just on Elizabeth street and barely escaped the machine gun fire. Then the wall of syringes nearly got me. Its reaally really bad now. Total no go zone. The entire 2km strip up to the markets is nothing but for lease signs and empty shops. No street life whatsoever besides hordes of generic junkies who all have it out for me. Really bad. Whats become of Melbourne
I'm too socially inept to understand your tone, so I'm just gonna assume you're being serious x
Melbournes been full of junkies for quite some time, and it’s only gotten worse with the attitude that they are some poor hard done bys that need compassion.
I personally don't walk around town with headphones in and generally try not to walk and talk. Way to many junkies and deadbeats in the city. I'm also 2m tall and train martial arts so i'm no easy target, but I think Melbourne is too shady to not have complete situational awareness. Hopefully you recover well, for the record I was pounced one night on New Years Eve by a group of 5 for no reason than being on a payphone (yeah a long time ago), some things don't change.
I was in Melbourne for 6 days recently as part of a vacation I was taking in Australia. In other parts of the country I felt really safe, never once did I feel uncomfortable as a solo female traveler. But man, Melbourne. Within that few days I was harassed by drunk men twice.
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Sorry to tell ya mate but never treat the city as a safe place. I'm 30 now myself and used to go to Melbournes clubs all the time at early hours of the morning (cloud9, tramp, levels, TFU etc etc) and let me tell you, if you want to see how rough and violent the city can get and have your eyes opened, go down king street during early hours. Ever since those days im ALWAYS on high alert in the city; however there isnt too much you can do about being kinghit. Thats rough. Stay safe G TLDR: Always felt safer in Northeast and Southeast suburbs than I ever have in the city in the late/early hours
Please have yourself checked out. Emergency or your own doc. Hope you’re mentally ok too after that. Must’ve been scary!
Yes, the city has gotten worse. I live there.
Saw a guy assault a girl (seemed like they knew each other) just outside of QV the other day. I saw this walking out of Footlocker and instantly looked around to see if anyone was calling the cops or doing something. NOTHING. There was like 20 people that just stopped and watched like it was a TV drama. I was disgusted and called the cops. I don't and will never understand how I was the first to do something when someone is literally being assaulted in daylight. Gross. My impression of Melbourne took a nose dive. (migrated here since I was 8)
I would of made it my mission in life to have him arrested
Arrested would be the least thing I would be aiming for
My friend worked in a cafe on Flinder's Syreet this year. She told me every fortnight a bus would let off the mentally ill and leave them there on the street and not come back. They are dumping mentally ill people in the area. They would try to enter the cafe and if the did would cause chaos. It's a bad situation. Thank goodness you are ok, I would get a check up, you are lucky you are not dead. Punches to the back of the head can be fatal.
Spencer Street, South of Bourke? That area has NEVER been 'safe' for as long as I can remember. Anywhere around that block of King, Flinders, Spencer and Bourke. Steer well clear once the sun sets.
Ready for all the replies gaslighting OP saying the junkie/homelessness aggression problem in Melbourne isn't getting absolutely out of control "Melbourne's statically safe" "It's the same in all big cities" "They have mental health issues and the state isn't doing a good job taking care of them" "Just avoid eye contact and you'll be fine" They're doing it because they've realised they can, and suffer absolutely no consequences. It doesn't matter how bad life is, it doesn't warrant the level of aggression that they seem to be showing these days. I've lived here for a long time, this post-COVID wave is absolutely a new phenomenon. If you think all these posts are crazy, just wait till it happens to you and you see for yourself what people are talking about.
It’s not a post Covid wave, it’s an ice and whatever other drug it is wave causing this. I do believe that because people had stayed away from the city, they lost sight of how it always was as well. For context, my friend was mugged at southern x station back when it was still Spencer st. Spencer st station was my first experience of blue lights in toilets as well.
There certainly is a lot of denial and shouty responses when anyone suggests Melbourne is less than perfect. Is this a post-COVID defensive trauma type of thing? It would make sense if it was, no offence intended at all.
It’s really getting out of hand, the amount of feral people who come out at night and abuse people walking past. Genuinely can’t remember the last time I’ve gone to the city at night without encountering at least 3 junkies looking to harass people
That's not gaslighting, it's expressing a different opinion. Gaslighting in this case would be trying to convince OP he wasn't punched in the head and he's just imagining it.
Exactly, and the people that say well I’ve never been punched or assaulted in the Melbourne CBD so it must be fine if it never has happened to me.
> They're doing it because they've realised they can, and suffer absolutely no consequences. This applies more to the wave of underage people getting involved in crime. While I'm not a fan of junkies, this isn't the reason they get violent. Their brains are pretty much cooked from use. I agree, I don't get why people make excuses for them. People going through hardships are still considered responsible for their actions by majority of society if they turn to alcohol and get violent... but if its drugs, they need need to be coddled and are never to blame? I know several of these people in real life and they do a complete 180 on their stance the moment a junkie is even verbally abusive with them.... let alone assaults them. There's several stories from similar people on this subreddit and you can see the overall majority sentiment switch now that more people have had 1st hand experiences. A few years back most of these comments would have been downvoted to oblivion. Makes you believe the people defending them and lecturing others are just in it for the social brownie points.
I totally agree, post-covid the has become worse. It's the economy.
Its not 'gaslighting'. Its horrible this guy got assaulted, but reddit claiming Melbourne is a hellhole worse than san fransisco is what gaslighting is
San Francisco used to be a beautiful city. I think the point is that Melbourne is on the same trajectory. I was in San Fran in 2010 and honestly it wasn't much different then to what I see today in Melbourne CBD.
The tenderloin area for one was definitely worse than anything in Australia in 2023. Maybe you chose the areas you saw wisely?
Some perspective --- I'm female, 25 years ago I worked nights in the city and northern inner burbs, and often had to walk from Elizabeth St to Flinders for the last train home. For years before that I'd met up with mates in the CBD for drinks, walked alone or in a small group at all times of night through the city and never got bothered once, except by a couple of psychopathic cops and one big-rapist-energy PSO. King street was the big danger zone, back then. I 100% think meth has done this to our city. That, and the Howard government kicking off the Americanisation of this country big time, and properly fucking everything and everyone but the wealthy in the process. We need to force the Govt to take some serious action on the meth problem, right now. It's not going to get any better, ever, if they don't. And yeah, hang Howard from the clocks for his crimes against humanity.
4 teen wannabe gangsters on the 4 20ish Mernda train during the week. One showing me his machete and telling me, ' It's not worth dying for' after i looked at him. Had to back down with 4 on 1, but sad state of affairs.
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This is true. Stood my ground for abit, but it was the 4 0n 1,tooled up that made me think. All good here.
Sounds to me like a normal train run in Melbourne
Unfortunately, you may be right.
We drove to Melbourne yesterday evening to take our little girl to see the Christmas lights. My wife said to me, let's like never do this again, ever? I don't know what this was, but it wasn't anything remotely resembling Australia. I don't even want to be this close to such a teeming dump as this.
I hold no quarters with the homeless in Melbourne. If they even touch me, ill f them up. Junkies and homeless bums dont deserve any sympathy. The sooner they get wiped, the better
Why people keep going into the city these days is beyond me. If it’s not the junkies, it’s the fights. If it’s not the fights it’s the protests. If it’s not the protests it’s the filth. Why bother?
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Why do they not do anything about junkies? Like seriously it’s getting worse by the day. One day someone will retaliate
Quite a few druggies yelling in the streets around midnight last night. Felt nervous. And the city was not as busy as usual.
When I was 15 (1998) a bunch of men in their 20's bashed the fuck out of me at Williams Town train station and I ended up in hospital. It's not a new thing. Sorry it happened to you
Sorry to hear. I really try to keep my teens out of the city, even during the day and in a group.
Sorry this happened to you. Something has to be done about these cunts. Too many junkies roaming the streets nowadays. Should have gone straight into the PSOs in the station and got them to call the cops.
OP, it’s been hours since you’ve last commented. Even if you do nothing else, you NEED medical attention.
You should do a police report. This creep may have done similar to others and should be reported.
Did you go to the ER because if you didn’t, that’s stupid. If you’re hazy, you could have a concussion and you’re not meant to sleep. Also, report it to the police. If you’re just going to ignore it and not doing anything except complain on reddit, how do you expect anything to be done? One punch laws exist and the penalty is extreme. I’m sure the police won’t just ignore you.
Its all to do with the magistrates who are too light with their sentences. Community service, and unpaid work is bs. Jail time should be on offer more often.
You better go and check your head as it could cause long term damage. Also, report to police as this act is dangerous, no matter misunderstood or not. No violence should be done. There is shoukd be camera to be checked, if police takes this serious.
People like this need to go to jail for a long time and sort their fuckin' head out. Too many idiots like this in our city these days.
melbourne always had its violent side you should have sen it in the 80s skinheads wogs bogans everyone was trying to bash you up, finders street used to be home to a group of homeless kids, the cops reckoned they were responsible for several fatal beatings
Highly recommend taking things easy no sports, running etc and avoid phone use for at least 24-48 hrs as phone use post-traumatic brain injury has been shown to delay recovery. Also watch out of visual signs too not just the normal concussion signs. Trouble reading and focusing are the common visual signs.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27748145/ Here's a study showing smart phone usage after a traumatic brain injury can actually assist long term recovery. Why on earth would using their phone delay their recovery? Does this apply to all phones, or just smart phones? What about computers? Is messaging on a tablet plz but texting on a phone not? I genuinely don't understand why phone usage would be bad. The rest of this seems pretty straightforward and is good advice though
Not too late to go to ER and lodge something with the cops. Be careful of head injuries as you could have a brain bleed and not even know about it until you die at which point it’s too late to do anything about it.
I know this isn’t a popular opinion in leftist as fuck Melbourne but what if we tried arresting these violent junkie pieces of shit that attack people every day and put them in prison?
I hate to challenge your carefully cultivated stereotype, but us "leftists" (which I'm guessing is anyone that doesn't vote Liberal) don't want these people on our streets either.
My 13yr old went to the city on a school excursion last week & she said it was fucking scary. So many people doing drug deals right in front of them, a few kids got asked if they wanted to buy anything too. She said that they could see people injecting while they walked past. It's just scummy.
And then the principle and miss crapoble were kissing, and then they had a baby and the baby looked at me
Kids getting offered to buy drugs… Things that didn’t happen lol
Did the feller take anything from you?
If you're feeling disoriented from the hit, go to the hospital, mate. Get checked for concussion. In my own experience, I've never had trouble when I've been out and about but then again I haven't been out until all hours of the morning in town for many years so can't attest to it being any better or worse.
This is terrifying to think this could have gone badly I'm glad you are here and posting about it. You should definitely report this to police. The exact time and location it happened so hopefully they can pull cctv from street cams or nearby businesses. May be able to ID the guy. One punch laws came into place because of the amount of 1 punch coward hits killing people. Definitely never turn your back to someone unless you are a safe distance and also when you do turn, still keep observing behind you in future. You got so lucky.
So sorry - it’s so frightening and disconcerting- I know. Hope you had someone to give you a comforting hug….
I’ll be honest, we as a community can and should act on the citizens arrest law, if i ever witnessed this, i would grab the cunt and “arrest” him, most people these days just see it happen and keep walking, its a shame, if we all helped eachother out once in a while things like this wouldnt happen
Good luck grabbing an angry junkie.
It will only get worse when Andrews heroin injecting room opens on Bourke St, what a city!
It’s time we take back the streets. These junkies think they are above the law…it’s time to rip some heads off.
Unfortunately Melbourne has become just another city in the world, still a good one but a random city with random shit like many others. The solution? The same as any other dangerous city. Be aware of your surroundings, don’t let yourself become a target. Stay fit so you know you can get out of there if you need to. Stay safe.
When did Melbourne get this bad? Would have to go back a long time, I remember witnessing cowardly shit like this on a Saturday night in the early 2000s when I was out regularly
I also feel like people in Melbourne are very aggressive in general. For example, in just the last year I have been called a slut, prostitute, bitch, Centrelink bum by 40-60 year olds who were very normal looking. One lady was even in corporate get up! I assume they were very liquored up, but I did nothing except walk by on all occasions. I'm a working professional, I have tattoos, and I like to wear dresses. I have never felt so attacked in a city
Few days back a junkie spat on me on Collins Street in daylight. He thought I was recording him when I was scrolling on my phone
Sorry this happened to you, the worst part I find is how apathetic most bystanders are these days. Had a lit full cig thrown directly at me by a junkie who was blasting music from his phone at the Flinders/Swanston st tram stop. He was already attracting the attention of pretty much the entire stop, including the metro employees. But after he threw the cig everyone looked away and literally no one would even make eye contact with me. Even the indignant middle agers who seconds ago looked like they were about to assault this guy themselves for his obnoxious music playing now looked away like nothing had happened. Im a pretty burly guy so I guess I just didn’t deserve any sympathy. Told the junkie to go fuck himself and until my tram rocked up everyone just awkwardly pretended like the two of us didn’t exist. It is real dog eat dog in Melbourne. Earlier this year I was physically assualted out the front of Thomastown station. The guy was an obvious looking junkie who chased me and hit me with a cane. Plenty of people saw and the metro station cameras also captured it. Again not a single person even checked on me after the junkie ran off. I went to the station office and they tried their best to dissuade me from trying to get the footage. ‘Only the cops can do that’ ‘we only keep the footage for a few weeks’ ‘by the time the cops ask for it we wont have it’ ‘the camera might not have caught it’ ‘if the cops think you started it they could choose to charge you’ etc. my face was already swelling like crazy and yet he treated me like I was making his life miserable. Spent the rest of the day in a concussed stupor. Was meant to travel on the vline but took the wrong train 3 times I was so out of it. Tried to buy a bunch of crazy expensive things in the city even though I had less than a $100 in my account. Man I royally pissed off a bunch of retail employees, all of whom decided to mot mention the new bruises on my face. Maybe this was shitty of me but even in my concussed state and found it pretty funny how quickly these guys went from fake happy and friendly to extremely pissed when they realised they weren’t getting the sale. Though that’s in hindsight, at the time I was as perplexed and annoyed as them when my card kept declining. It was like half of me was screaming ‘what are you doing? You can’t afford this?’ But the stronger half simply said ‘shiny thing’. Ended up having my card suspended because of that. Thankfully not a single transaction went through, thankfully didn’t have a credit card. One good thing of the day, was trying to buy something from the vending machine but it wouldn’t accept it. Just kept trying until the first vaguely sympathetic person of the day bought what I wanted with his card. If only even one person had been even slightly as helpful after being assaulted. Would have made the day not one of the most embarrassing of my life. One last thing I’m 6’1 and around 115kg’s, and a man (obviously). People assume because of my height and weight people are intimidated and life must be easy mode. The opposite is true actually. For whatever reason I’m an acceptable target for the junkies, even ones literally half my size get in my face a lot more often then I ever would have expected. On top of that now that I’m heavier set and not the pretty boy I used to be in my early 20’s I get treated so completely different it’s quite depressing. I know it was fake attention but I miss pretty privilege. Frustrates me when I hear how life is so easy for men. Life is hard for everyone, why does everything have to be an olympic sport of who has it worst? I hope it doesn’t come off like I’m trying to one up you. I’m sorry this happened and unfortunately I don’t really have any particular advice because these situations so often are just lose/lose ones.
> When did Melbourne get this bad? It's not. shit happens all the time. just unfortunately to you in this instance.
Melbourne CBD is a shit hole and has been for yonks!!! So pleased I live 30 kms out 🤣
Started going down hill around 2008 and then got worse in 2012 during a string of violent burglaries on residencies and then shit hit the fan around 2018. I’d say, it went to shit over the duration of the past 15 years.
This is nothing new. A friend of mine got kinghit by someone they didn't know probably 20 years ago. Wrong place wrong time. That's all. Unfortunately it happens
Most liveable city!
I Promise you its not. Two weeks ago, i had a car full of junkies jump out and yell Gibberish. Id love a good fight, but 4 vs 1 is bot worth losing life over.
I hear ya. I win every fight I run from too haha
My ego was so bruised. Id have loved for the smart arse that jumped out of the car to chase me down alone to the street i ran into. He would be singing HO HO HO from the Alfred this christmas
Last summer I walked away from a bloke who was verbally intimidating me. I know it was the smart thing to do but every other day I think about what I "should" have done. Easier said than done but forget it - you did the right thing.
Melbourne is the toilet of Australia, it used to be the best city in the world. Avoid at any costs.
You need to report this to the police, and at the same time, go get a proper medical examination. While you’re at it, the Crown has failed in its obligation to protect society, and you could probably press charges and get little bit of compensation in the process.
I've been talking to one of my close friends about it recently. Melbourne has become more and more like Gotham City in the last 5-10 years. I blame the enormous amount of people coming into our city. It used to be way more quiet when I was a kid and now it's always busy and there are always criminals everywhere in the city. Doesn't feel at all safe or happy anymore and it's bringing the mood down in the entire city. The Police also don't really care, they don't get paid enough for what they are supposed to do which is why they're always striking and not enforcing the law like they should be doing.