Jim Dobbin MP mugged and car stolen

Jim Dobbin - Heywood & Middleton MP

Heywood amp; Middleton MP Jim Dobbin was mugged before attending a constituency surgery at Middleton Civic Hall on Friday evening, 13 July.

Mr Dobbin was attacked from behind and forced to the ground. His car key fob was taken and his car stolen.

He attended hospital the following day with minor injuries.

The Labour MP had already attended surgeries at Burnside and Langley before parking his car on the Middleton Civic Hall car park ahead of his scheduled 6.30pm surgery there.

Mr Dobbin got out of his car and locked it and walked round to post some letters at the nearby post office letter box before returning to the car to retrieve some of the papers that he would need during the surgery.

Mr Dobbin continued the story: "I took out my keys so that I could get back into the car for my paper work, it was then that I heard pounding footsteps of someone running behind me. A man grabbed me from behind and tried to push me to the ground on to my face but I managed to turn round so that I landed on my back.

"Looking up I saw that he was a white man and clean shaven but I could not really see him as he had a hoodie on that reached down almost covering his nose."

Mr Dobbin had managed to hold onto his keys during the attack but his attacker ripped his car key fob from the bunch as his victim lay on the ground.

The MP said: "There were three or four cars in the car park but he knew exactly which car to go for and once he was inside he knew exactly how to work it. The car is automatic and has a push button break under the dashboard rather than a manual one but he knew what he was doing.

"I ran over to the car and tried to get in but he had locked himself inside. I banged the window to try and get him to turn round so that I could see his face but he was too quick."

Having started the car the man made a fast getaway, driving over the pavement and speeding past the shops on Long Street.

Mr Dobbin had a lot of important paper work in the car, as well as his security pass for getting in to parliament and his passport. His passport and some papers were found on a roadside in Middleton and these have now been handed to the police to check for fingerprints.

Mr Dobbin said finally: "I had to go to cancel my engagements on Saturday and go to hospital because I had damaged my elbow. I am feeling OK now but I was furious on Saturday and I did not calm down until later that night when I realised that it could have been a lot worse and the attack could have been really bad; it's one of life's experiences."

"I would like to thank the police, they were fantastic; they were with me in three or four minutes from Middleton Police Station after the incident and helped me talk through the incident afterwards."

Mr Dobbin returned to London on Sunday evening and is now continuing his parliamentary duties as normal.