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When the situation is obscure, attack! -General Heinz Guderian
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One of my Expatriate UK clients forwarded this story of a murder that recently rocked both the residents and media of London.
What made this murder so shocking?
Just this: the victim did everything you all THINK you should do in this type of situation.
WARNING: The article below will make you very uncomfortable if you think your social skills will get you by in an asocial violent event.
With that caveat, please read on:
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HE GAVE MUGGERS ALL HIS POSSESSIONS BUT THEY WANTED MORE… HIS LIFE
By Jeff Edwards, Tom Parry And Robert Stansfield, Times-Mirror Staff
A successful young lawyer was stabbed to death by muggers just yards from his home despite handing over all his possessions.
Tom Rhys Pryce was heard pleading with the callous thieves, “What more do you want from me? You’ve got everything of value.”
Seconds later the two men knifed him in the head, body and limbs in a frenzied, ferocious and senseless attack before they fled.
The 31-year-old, who was due to marry fiancée Adele Eastman in September, was stabbed at least a dozen times as he put up a fierce fight for his life with his bare hands.
Investigation chief Detective Superintendent Julian Worker said: “This is a shocking murder. It looks like a completely gratuitous killing.
“It is clear it was a robbery. We know that he had already handed over everything of value that was on him. We know he was telling them he had nothing else of value. He was pleading with them and they just produced knives and started stabbing him.
“Tom was killed just 50 yards from his front door. Adele, 31, was in the house waiting for him to return from a work social event.
“She went outside after hearing the commotion just before midnight on Thursday but did not see her dying fiancé who was lying in a pool of blood.
The family was too upset to talk last night. A neighbor said: “Tom and Adele were the picture of happiness.
“He had his whole life ahead of him but it has been so cruelly taken from him. Everyone’s devastated.”
Another, Gerry Dobson, 63, added: “It’s such a bloody, crying shame. We know from firsthand experience as parents the dedication and support that has gone into getting that young man where he got in his profession.
“To have some idiot take that away from you, not just you, but a whole family, friends and community, well it’s dreadful.
“He was someone who had put in all that effort when you have so many bums who go around scratching a living and don’t contribute anything to society.”
Tom was attacked as he walked to his home at Bathurst Gardens in Willesden, North West London, from nearby Kensal Green Tube station.
He was smartly dressed in a blue shirt and tie, a grey suit and black business shoes.
Det Supt Worker said: “This is a quiet, up and coming area of London, and not the type of place where we would expect a murder like this to happen.” A neighbour of the couple added: “This is a very normal and usually quiet residential street. It’s unbelievable someone should be killed in such a horrible way so close to his home.”
Police believe the murderers may have been lying in wait near Kensal Green station looking for a victim to rob.
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My condolences go out to the families of this man and his fiancé.
If you’ve been reading my past newsletters closely you’ll recognize all the clues in this article that clearly show the general public, our media, and even the law enforcement community have an incredibly difficult time coping with asocial acts of violence, much less how to survive one.
You CANNOT let yourself become just ‘one of the herd,’ waiting for the next predators to arrive.
If after reading this article from the UK Mirror you still can’t see what this poor guy did wrong you are not ready for asocial violence.
Sadly most people read this and say that the victim did everything he could and that “he fought for his life” but the 2 guys with the knives were just too much for him.
Yet there’s a huge difference between “fighting for your life” and “trying not to get stabbed”. Make sure you know the difference.
The time to install such information is well before you have to face such an ordeal. If not now, then when? This isn’t something you “figure out” while staring at a knife blade or down the barrel of a gun.
Living in his nice North London neighborhood, I’m sure the last thing Mr. Pryce ever expected was that he’d experience asocial violence during his walk home… and lose his life.
Until next time,
Tim Larkin
Master Close-Combat Instructor
Creator of Target Focus(TM) Training
PS: See all our US and International training cities and dates here: http://targetfocustraining.com/live_events.html
And if someone forwarded this newsletter for you to read, be sure and sign up for your own personal copy at:
http://targetfocustraining.com
There you’ll also find out more about surviving a violent criminal attack like the one above.
