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Former RAF pilot robbed by passer-by as he lay trapped and bleeding following motorbike crash

Man – who also suffers from leukaemia – said he felt ‘violated’ after incident in west London

Adam Withnall
Tuesday 17 June 2014 09:06 BST
File: Detail on a Triumph Bonneville
File: Detail on a Triumph Bonneville (AFP PHOTO/ROBYN BECK)

A former RAF pilot who suffers from leukaemia has described how he was left trapped, bleeding and helpless after a motorbike accident in west London when a “Good Samaritan” stopped by – and rifled through his pockets for cash.

Craig Stevens, 51, suffered a broken arm and cut his leg open to the bone as he went to fill up his bike with petrol ahead of a charity ride last week.

With the situation made worse because of the blood-thinning medication he takes for the cancer he was diagnosed with three years ago, Mr Stevens was initially relieved when a man came up to his side.

But instead of checking to see if he was alright, the stranger began robbing him, going through his pockets and making off with £40 in cash.

Speaking from his bed in St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, Mr Stevens told the Daily Mail: “I cannot believe that someone could do that to me, when I was so helpless and in need.

“I could feel his hands going through all of my pockets, I couldn’t move,” he said. “I was trapped, in pain and heavily bleeding. I was pleading with him to stop, to help me instead of stealing from me but he carried on. I feel angry. I feel violated.”

Mr Stevens served with the RAF during the Gulf War and is an active member of the Royal British Legion, organising charity motorbike rides in which he takes part on his Triumph Bonneville.

After the accident, on Uxbridge Road in Hayes at 2.30pm on Saturday, 7 June, he required two major operations and a skin graft on his leg.

His partner, 35-year-old Nita Maisuria, said: “This is the last thing you expect to happen in England.

“I am appalled that people like this exist and that when Craig needed help, someone acted in such a disgusting way.”

Mr Stevens described his attacker as black, around 5ft 6ins tall, in his 40s and wearing a trilby hat. The incident is under investigation by police.

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