Teenage jogger in Wanstead Flats mugger warning
A teenager wounded as he fought off a knifeman while jogging, has warned people to avoid Wanstead Flats.
Seventeen-year-old Lewis Lawrence, who has been trained in karate, saw off the attacker while running near his home on Thursday at 10.30am.
He was taking a short cut through woods when he was confronted by a man coming after him with a knife.
Lewis said: “He looked like he was homeless. He was scruffy and wearing a big coat.”
The student described the attacker as black, 6ft, slim, with cropped hair and stubble.
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“He was saying something to me,” said Lewis.
“I couldn’t hear because I was wearing my iPod.
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“When he came at me with the knife I kicked him in the face and ran off.”
Lewis, a sixth form student at Wanstead High School, Redbridge Lane West, Wanstead, said he was tired as he had been running for about six miles and so his pursuer caught up with him and grabbed him by the shirt.
“He lunged at me with the knife.
“I tried to get out of the way, but he gashed me in the side.
“I grabbed hold of his hand with the knife and punched him in the face then ran home.
“I was bleeding quite badly but my house was close by.
“When I got back I managed to patch myself up and rang the police.”
Lewis, of Ridley Road, said: “I won’t be running on the Flats again.
“I think I will get out a gym membership.
“I want to warn runners about using the Flats – and they definitely should not use an iPod.”
