Aggressive begging/mugging

unclejoe

I was walking on the back streets from capal street to o'connell street there today on the smaller quiet roads and two junkies approached me begging for cash. They were mid to late 20's.
Span me some tale of needing the money for a train to Cork. I was trying to walk past but they blocked my way and started getting pretty aggressive. I saw one of their hands reach for their back pocket so started talking to them fairly sharpish. They got right tin my face and i gave them the little change I had. They're weren't happy until they saw the note section of my wallet and thankfully I only had a fiver which i gave them. They backed off after this and moved along.

I'm pretty sure they were about to get violent. It's ****ing disgraceful the amount of that type round that area always asking for cash. I was tempted to just barge past them them and leg it but they looked pretty strung out I'd image they would have happily opened me up. It was strange as they didn't ask for my phone or anything so it's not really a mugging. They started out just asking for a tenner but it was pretty obvious they were willing to getting violent to get it. Wonder if they would have taken more if I had it.

Wondering if anybody else has had similar experiences around there?

Faith+1

unclejoe wrote: »

I was walking on the back streets from capal street to o'connell street there today on the smaller quiet roads and two junkies approached me begging for cash. They were mid to late 20's.
Span me some tale of needing the money for a train to Cork. I was trying to walk past but they blocked my way and started getting pretty aggressive. I saw one of their hands reach for their back pocket so started talking to them fairly sharpish. They got right tin my face and i gave them the little change I had. They're weren't happy until they saw the note section of my wallet and thankfully I only had a fiver which i gave them. They backed off after this and moved along.

I'm pretty sure they were about to get violent. It's ****ing disgraceful the amount of that type round that area always asking for cash. I was tempted to just barge past them them and leg it but they looked pretty strung out I'd image they would have happily opened me up. It was strange as they didn't ask for my phone or anything so it's not really a mugging. They started out just asking for a tenner but it was pretty obvious they were willing to getting violent to get it. Wonder if they would have taken more if I had it.

Wondering if anybody else has had similar experiences around there?

Fair play OP. That was probably the best fiver you could ever spend given the fact that they were about to attack you. It's a f*cking disgrace that these scumbags are getting away with this behaviour.

dsmythy

When they're that strung out you can generally outrun them. I had a similar incident happen to me on Eden Quay. Two guys in their 30s right in my face asking for money in a 'maybe they mean change maybe they mean everything I have' kind of way. My fight or flight response was about to explode when someone passing by made a comment pretending to hurry me along or "we'd" be late and the two men slipped away at the disturbance.

I'd report it to the local station. They may have gone on to commit an even more serious crime and it could be some important information.

wesf

scum should be rounded up and shot, and i'm deadly serious!

unclejoe

Yea as it was only a fiver I kind of let it go. I'd say if they started asking for my phone I would have tried to leg it somewhere busy. I think initially they were genuinely trying to scam me with a begging story but as there was nobody really on the street they kind of up'd the ante and saw they could intimidate me a bit. I was taller then both of them but with the hint of a weapon I just wasn't taking any chances. Very strange though they way I wasn't quite sure if they were begging or mugging. Maybe they take that approach so if they do get busted the can claim innocence. Are they that crafty? I suppose i'll be sticking to the busy streets round there from now on anyways.
Where's the nearest garda station round there that I could report it? I could head in tomorrow.

dissed doc

unclejoe wrote: »

I was walking on the back streets from capal street to o'connell street there today on the smaller quiet roads and two junkies approached me begging for cash. They were mid to late 20's.
Span me some tale of needing the money for a train to Cork. I was trying to walk past but they blocked my way and started getting pretty aggressive. I saw one of their hands reach for their back pocket so started talking to them fairly sharpish. They got right tin my face and i gave them the little change I had. They're weren't happy until they saw the note section of my wallet and thankfully I only had a fiver which i gave them. They backed off after this and moved along.

I'm pretty sure they were about to get violent. It's ****ing disgraceful the amount of that type round that area always asking for cash. I was tempted to just barge past them them and leg it but they looked pretty strung out I'd image they would have happily opened me up. It was strange as they didn't ask for my phone or anything so it's not really a mugging. They started out just asking for a tenner but it was pretty obvious they were willing to getting violent to get it. Wonder if they would have taken more if I had it.

Wondering if anybody else has had similar experiences around there?

Demanding money agressively and threatening you to the extent you feel obliged to give them the money pretty much is a mugging.

Yes, you were mugged! Did you report it to the police?

That said it is Dublin, which for most of it's existence is a complete sh1thole except for the debt money flowing around during the boom. That sort of stuff was normal even on Grafton street in 1995, and you would also see it on the quays past ha'penny bridge going towards heuston.

mfceiling

dissed doc wrote: »

Demanding money agressively and threatening you to the extent you feel obliged to give them the money pretty much is a mugging.

Yes, you were mugged! Did you report it to the police?

That said it is Dublin, which for most of it's existence is a complete sh1thole except for the debt money flowing around during the boom. That sort of stuff was normal even on Grafton street in 1995, and you would also see it on the quays past ha'penny bridge going towards heuston.

Christ on a bike....i've heard it all now:rolleyes:

returnNull

mfceiling wrote: »

Christ on a bike....i've heard it all now:rolleyes:

big city has crime shocker!!!

dissed doc

returnNull wrote: »

big city has crime shocker!!!

Making excuses doesn't make it any less dangerous in Dublin. For a city with just 500k people it's very unsafe to compared to much bigger european cities like Munich, Amsterdam, Madrid, etc., .

returnNull

dissed doc wrote: »

Making excuses doesn't make it any less dangerous in Dublin. For a city with just 500k people it's very unsafe to compared to much bigger european cities like Munich, Amsterdam, Madrid, etc., .

Rubbish.

I've lived in london and the 'dam and dublin is nowhere near the level of scumbaggery I witnessed/read about in either of those 2.

And there's more 500k in dublin ignore wikipedia:pac:

John_Rambo

dissed doc wrote: »

Making excuses doesn't make it any less dangerous in Dublin. For a city with just 500k people it's very unsafe to compared to much bigger european cities like Munich, Amsterdam, Madrid, etc., .

Foolish post from someone that did a few city breaks during the boom and consider themselves "well traveled". I'd love to see your face if you were shown the dirty underbelly of cities like Munich, Amsterdam or Madrid!

Faith+1

John_Rambo wrote: »

Foolish post from someone that did a few city breaks during the boom and consider themselves "well traveled". I'd love to see your face if you were shown the dirty underbelly of cities like Munich, Amsterdam or Madrid!

Or Paris......eek :eek:

EyeSight

John_Rambo wrote: »

Foolish post from someone that did a few city breaks during the boom and consider themselves "well traveled". I'd love to see your face if you were shown the dirty underbelly of cities like Munich, Amsterdam or Madrid!

he has a point. Sure the underbelly of those cities are very rough, but the O connell street area is meant to be the main street of the city center. And it's full of scum carrying out crime regularly in the open with almost zero action.
That is where Dublin differs.

returnNull

EyeSight wrote: »

That is where Dublin differs.

But thats you're preception.It goes on in other capitals main streets/areas as well.I've seen it.And the police have done f all,because they werent there,busy off somewhere else I'd imagine.

EyeSight

returnNull wrote: »

But thats you're preception.It goes on in other capitals main streets/areas as well.I've seen it.And the police have done f all,because they werent there,busy off somewhere else I'd imagine.

i guess we will have to agree to disagree here.
I just think i see so much crime on some main city center streets that i don't see in other big cities. Then i read almost once a week about one of these scumbags actually getting caught and the judge leaving them off with a pat on the back. It all seems so hopeless to me and gets worse and worse.

snappieT

This is not begging, it's mugging.

Same happened to me on Liffey Street one evening.

SebBerkovich

EyeSight wrote: »

he has a point. Sure the underbelly of those cities are very rough, but the O connell street area is meant to be the main street of the city center. And it's full of scum carrying out crime regularly in the open with almost zero action.
That is where Dublin differs.

I do love dublin and i've lived all over the place but O'Connell street just makes me sad. the city deserves better than to have people's first impression be influenced by such a nasty part of the city.

califano

Dont stop to look, listen or acknowledge them in a similar way to ignoring a request for "Got the right time?". Thats the problem here. Once you answer they can gleen a lot from that and they're in like Flynn.

dissed doc

http://www.thejournal.ie/aston-quay-stabbing-1001371-Jul2013/

I might get a ban for this as I already got a warning, but I think Dublin *is* is a dump based on the agressive people that hang around the centre. It's way more dangerous around the centre than the equivalent european cities. In fact, Dublin is just like many other UK cities in that regard. This is not about the "underbelly" of any city, it's about the main centre area. European cities that I mentioned are perfectly safe for tourists to walk around in the equivalent areas. Dublin is not. Banning me or complaining doesn't change the fact that a tourist is not safe walking on O'Connell Street or off Temple Bar compared to walking around Marienplatz or Leidseplein.

PLaces that are no-go for tourists looking for a safe place to walk at night: O'Connell Street, parnell Street, the quays. That is simply reality and I am sad to say that I don't think it will get better; maybe people on this forum don't recall the 70s, 80s or 90s and what Dublin is normally like. Newsflash: the agression and danger of Dublin centre does *not* exist in many equivalent european cities. It's not normal and saying "every big city has it" is simply ignorant. Tourists and regular people should feel safe to walk around the centre. They don't.

The Hill Billy

[mod_hat_on]
You won't get banned for offering a qualified opinion. Just saying "Dublin is a dump" & not offering a thought-out reason why you consider it to be a 'dump' will get you a ban.
[/mod_hat_on]

I think that it is unfair to say that Dublin is a dump because of the city center areas where the majority of the anti-social behaviour takes places. If you were to say that O'Connell Street & the surrounding areas were a dump - I'd be more inclined to agree with you.

Yeah, I must admit that the centre of Dublin is an absolute disgrace... O Connell Street is supposed to be among our most famous tourist destinations and yet you can't go there at any time of the day without seeing junkies and scum scattered everywhere. I can only imagine that it must resemble what Times Square used to look like before it got an overhaul.

dissed doc

The Hill Billy wrote: »

[mod_hat_on]
You won't get banned for offering a qualified opinion. Just saying "Dublin is a dump" & not offering a thought-out reason why you consider it to be a 'dump' will get you a ban.
[/mod_hat_on]

I think that it is unfair to say that Dublin is a dump because of the city center areas where the majority of the anti-social behaviour takes places. If you were to say that O'Connell Street & the surrounding areas were a dump - I'd be more inclined to agree with you.

Yeah sorry, I mean the centre areas around O'Connell Street. It should be the safest place in the city but it's the opposite. There was Always a lot of casual crime around the centre in the pre-boom days and now it's back "to normal" I think. It's just disappointing that nothing has changed.

bobwilliams

Faith+1 wrote: »

Fair play OP. That was probably the best fiver you could ever spend given the fact that they were about to attack you. It's a f*cking disgrace that these scumbags are getting away with this behaviour.

i was chatting to a Canadian guy last week who's just back from ireland from his first trip here in 15 years.
The first thing he mentioned to me was the amount of beggers and junkies in Dublin city was a real shoke to him.
I would stick a few snippers on top of the GPO and a few other prime locations and take the junkies out,wouldn't be missed.

The Hill Billy

Any further crap posts about shooting junkies, etc - poster gets banned & thread gets locked. Keep it civil please.

tHB

John_Rambo

dissed doc wrote: »

It's way more dangerous around the centre than the equivalent european cities

Newsflash, it's not. You may think it is because you see drug abuse and beggars, but it's not! Trying to say Dublin is just like many UK cities just shows you you're A; Trolling or B; that you haven't been to many cities in the UK!

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah, I must admit that the centre of Dublin is an absolute disgrace...

Come on Bony, just look at you previous posts about Dublin, you have a chip on your shoulder about the place, you hate it and now you're jumping on the bandwagon.

bumper234

John_Rambo wrote: »

Come on Bony, just look at you previous posts about Dublin, you have a chip on your shoulder about the place, you hate it and now you're jumping on the bandwagon.

Are you trying to say that Dublin city center is not a dump? I live in Dublin and i work in Dublin city center and all i see from 7 am to 5 pm out my office window is junkies, drunks beggars and open air drug dealing. Some days on my break i walk down O'Connell street and it's shocking to see what goes on. The street is a dump and will stay a dump until they get a SERIOUS police presence there and the surrounding streets.

dissed doc

John_Rambo wrote: »

Newsflash, it's not. You may think it is because you see drug abuse and beggars, but it's not! Trying to say Dublin is just like many UK cities just shows you you're A; Trolling or B; that you haven't been to many cities in the UK!



Come on Bony, just look at you previous posts about Dublin, you have a chip on your shoulder about the place, you hate it and now you're jumping on the bandwagon.

No, it's a fair comparison and I think there is a perception that it's normal elsewhere that there are so many open drug users and petty criminals around the centre areas. It's not as bad as Barcelona but I think Dublin should be striving towards the safety you see at night in Munich, Vienna, Copenhagen, Amsterdam. All not very big cities.

Unless it is tackled (and accepting it is a problem is the first step), it will not improve. Are people happy that the it is the way it is? Saying "oh it's like that in every city" is simply not true. It's like that in cities that don't deal with these social and policing problems.

John_Rambo

John_Rambo wrote: »

Newsflash, it's not. You may think it is because you see drug abuse and beggars, but it's not! Trying to say Dublin is just like many UK cities just shows you you're A; Trolling or B; that you haven't been to many cities in the UK!



Come on Bony, just look at you previous posts about Dublin, you have a chip on your shoulder about the place, you hate it and now you're jumping on the bandwagon.

There is no bandwagon to jump on. Can you honestly say that there are not tonnes of beggars, junkies, scumbags that litter the streets of Dublin, especially the main tourist areas? These are supposed to be the safest places and yet they're not. I feel embarrassed when I see tourists walking by junkies.

I don't know what the cure might be to these - lock them up? Arm the Gardaí? I don't know. Dublin has a problem and it's not one that will be going away easily.

Micky Dolenz

Jaysus. I was going to head out to the city centre for beers in the sun. Don't think I'll bother now.

bumper234

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Jaysus. I was going to head out to the city centre for beers in the sun. Don't think I'll bother now.

Na is ok to do that. Just bring plenty for the beggars, junkies and alcos that will try latch on

John_Rambo

dissed doc wrote: »

I think Dublin should be striving towards the safety you see at night in Munich, Vienna, Copenhagen, Amsterdam. All not very big cities.

Sorry lads, out enjoying Dublin bay, I seriously doubt you two are aware of the amenities next to the city!

You choose to live in Dublin instead of these cities dissed doc? Bonyarsebogman, you recently moved to Dublin (why is beyond me as you detest the place).

How many times have you both been mugged? The truth.

I agree that the city has a problem with drugs and it's an eyesore, open problem But to call the whole city center a dump?

Get over the drama.