I saw a guy beating up his girlfriend ...

[vwdan]

I did this once - stood between the bloke and the girl and then realised that, despite me being over 6' I was head height with his chest. Fortunately his mates weren't so impressed either and got him out of there.

My brother was put in hospital last year after intervening - nothing serious fortunately, but it can go wrong so easily Domestics are such a funny beast, too - there's so much complicated psychology and in many cases the victim will side with the defendant. It's a real no win situation.

[Wanderer]

I cannot help being a little disappointed at how many people just seemed to be standing there doing nothing.

I think you now know why they stood there and did nothing. Lesson learnt is that you NEVER get involved in domestic disputes or blokes beating up women, it's just not worth it. All too often the good Samaritan gets beaten up by the bloke and then the woman joins in too. It later transpires that the bloke routinely beats his missus and she isn't willing to press charges or they are junkies or whatever.

Domestic violence is shocking and abhorrent but the sad fact of the situation is that many women have a misguided loyalty to the scum bag who beats them and they can't remove themselves from the situation, nor are they aren't willing to press charges. As an outsider you have little or no control over this, even family can't do much. The best thing you can do is act as a witness and video it so the Police have independent evidence of the assault for when the woman refuses to give evidence against the man so that way she can appear outwardly loyal to her man but he may still be prosecuted without her needing to go through the trauma of giving evidence.

[scooterscot]

I recall a chap in Southampton I used to work with intervening with the local teens causing no-end of disruption in the neighbourhood, keying cars usual etc behaviour. And the day he did get involved (it wasnae me honest) one of them comes up to him full of rage all threatening, a mild altercation where I come, and laid my fist true and square into his neck just at he nerve bundle under the ear. (don't waste time with throws into the stomach), he went down like a sack of potatoes. The next day the police were knocking on the door and this chaps SC was at risk for having a criminal record.

Why get involved doing a good deed when the law attacks you for trying?

[MaryPoppins]

WHS - same with old people - very few men would consider hitting an octogenarian, so if you see a bloke giving an old person a kicking, it must be because the old person is a ****.

+1

Kids, too - the really little ones. Don't often see an adult pummelling a small child in public - if I did, I'd be comforted by the thought that they almost definitely will have deserved it.