Radio 4 broadcaster Eddie Mair, who revealed he was attacked by a gang of thugs in London as he boarded a bus
Radio 4 presenter Eddie Mair has revealed he was the victim of a street attack by a gang of youths in London.
The BBC broadcaster said he was repeatedly punched in the head as he boarded a bus last December.
Mair had been filming three hooded thugs, who were riding bikes, as they taunted him in the street seconds earlier.
But the 52-year-old said he felt too ashamed to report the incident to police until a few weeks after the traumatic encounter.
Dundee-born Mair, who hosts news programme PM, decided to speak out about the attack after it was revealed Michael McIntyre was robbed of his Rolex watch by an armed gang in north London last week.
Violent crime in London has surged in recent months, with a staggering 74 murders in London this year. The latest victim was a man in his 30s who was stabbed to death in Haringey on Saturday night.
Describing the attack, Mair said: ‘On my way home from dinner with friends I was at a bus station when three youths on bikes appeared, noisily making their presence felt.
‘One wheeled his front wheel up into my face. I knew better than to pick a fight, so moved away to my bus stop.
‘They followed me and began circling me on their bikes. I felt like prey, somewhat intimidated.
The BBC presenter said he felt too ashamed to come forward until weeks after the incident, when it was revealed Michael McIntyre had been robbed in north London
‘The bus was imminent but still they circled. I got out my phone and started videoing them.
‘I said nothing, but over the course of a minute did my best to record their faces – hoodies obscured almost everything. Then the bus arrived and on I stepped.
‘As I was paying the fare, I felt a blow to my head and, in quick succession, several more. Sharp pain. Almost as soon as it began, it was over.
‘I did not immediately compute what had happened. One or more of the three had whacked the side and top of my noggin.
‘I turned round and they were escaping on their bikes.’
Michael McIntyre speaks with a police officer beside his damaged car after he was robbed in north London. Mair said the incident prompted him to share his own attack in the capital
Mair was left with a large bruise above his right ear and his head was sore for days.
He said he didn’t tell his family, friends or the police after the attack because he felt ‘shame’ and was worried that he had been at fault for filming the youths.
The radio host eventually gave a statement to officers in mid-February.
But they could not identify his attackers from the footage and crucial CCTV from the bus had wiped by that time.
The presenter, who was mugged for his rucksack during a holiday in South America in January, has now urged other victims of crime to come forward and tell the police.
‘As time went on I was increasingly embarrassed I hadn’t reported the crime,’ he said.
‘For weeks, every time the local paper reported an assault, I believed that I had contributed to it.
‘I was so chicken I waited until the day before my departure for South America before I went online to report the crime.
‘My delay in reporting was decisive. The criminals had got away with it because of me.
‘And so this is the part where I urge you to do as I say, not as I do. Try to report crime. I promise to do so.’
Mair joined the BBC in 1987 and has also presented Newsnight, The One Show and The Andrew Marr Show.