Stand Up To the Yobs, Get Attacked.

Great society they're building over there in Britain. Once again, an armed man who confronted a group of teens ends up with a severe head injury.

Father of four 'critical' after confronting yobs in street

A father of four was critically ill last night after being attacked by a gang of youths who he confronted after a stone was thrown at his car.

Phil Carroll, 48, suffered serious head injuries. He was struck twice and knocked to the ground.

His assailants, two boys and a girl, may be as young as 14.

As he remained in a critical but stable condition at Hope Hospital, Salford, Greater Manchester, Mr Carroll's wife, Jean, appealed for the public's help in catching his attackers.

"We are all devastated by what has happened,'' she said. "Phil is such a good person and is well liked.

"He went out to his car and a minute later he was lying in the street. Somebody must know who did this.''

Mr Carroll's brother, John, 34, who witnessed the attack, said: "We need to know who these people are to get them off the streets.

"Phil said youths in the area were always causing unruly behaviour during the night. Being the person he is, he will always confront them and now it has ended up like this."

Mr Carroll, a company director, went to his brother's house in Lower Broughton, Salford, to help with his car satellite navigation system.

"He was due to start work on a large contract for Barclays Bank in Aberdeen today and wanted to make sure he wouldn't get lost in the city.

"As we walked towards the car for a test drive Phil spoke to a girl and two lads he felt were trespassing as they were stood inside his gate. The youths walked off without any problems but when Phil asked them to close the gate the girl told one of the lads not to.

"One of the lads threw a stone at the garage which ricocheted and hit the car. Phil ran over to the youths who had been joined by a group of around 20 who were hanging around in the street.

"He only went to find out who threw the stone but before he could do anything one of the lads punched him in the face and as he fell backwards he was hit again by another youth.

"Phil hit his head really hard on the pavement and just lay there. I wanted to confront the lad that hit my brother but by just looking at him I knew he was in a bad way.

Juuuust marvelous.

Hey, gang, let's try England's crime-control methods here! They're so successful, after all.

In a related piece, read Mark Steyn's analysis of why the "hoodie culture" has grown across the pond. Here's a taste:

From my own personal observation of sullen teens in ghastly clothing loafing about dreary British shopping malls, I'd say a lot more of them seem to be hooded than their equivalents in dreary American or dreary Canadian shopping malls. It's some while since I've been to a dreary Fijian or dreary Uzbek shopping mall, so I don't want to overstate my case but there seems to be some indication that the United Kingdom is becoming a world leader in hooded teenagers. Why should this be?

Obvious answer: CCTV. The British are the most videotaped people in the history of mankind, caught on camera by official surveillance devices as they go about every humdrum public manoeuvre. If you're a grown-up, this might not seem a big deal: you can go back to your pad, collapse on the sofa and pick your nose far from Tony Blair's prying eyes, though doubtless this chink in the 24/7 monitoring system will eventually be rectified.

But, if you're an adolescent, far more of your social rituals take place in public - meeting friends at the bus stop, enjoying a romantic moment by the non-operative ornamental fountain outside the KwikkiJunk Centre, etc - and it seems entirely reasonable that adolescent garb has artfully evolved to provide its wearers with such privacy as can be found under the constant whirr of the Big Blairite Brother's telly cameras.

This is the usual law of unintended consequences. Just as the increasing sophistication of home-security systems has led burglars to conclude that it's easier to wait till you're in, knock on the door and punch you in the face, so the ever-present 24-hour surveillance devices have ensured that, even if you get a look at your assailant, you'll never be able to pick him out of a police line-up.

RTWT. It's worth it.