The traffic lights turned red on Belfast’s Albertbridge Road.  Jonny drew his car up to the line, lost in thoughts of life, exams and student banter. But then his eyes were alerted to a scene of confusion going on outside.  People running, punches being thrown, a guy in a white tracksuit approaching his car…

Jonny’s mind was a blur.  As he stared out at this guy he saw real distress in his eyes.  Fear was written across a face which had just been freshly marked by a series of reddening cuts.  Jonny opened the door of his car.  The guy jumped in…

Jonny takes up the story: “All of a sudden the gang sprinted off, away from the car - it was as if they thought I was a threat or that they’d seen a ghost or something.  So I began to ask the guy who he was and what had been happening…”

“His name was Kristoff and he was from Poland (he couldn’t speak much English) and basically he’d been attacked by this gang.  He seemed in great distress, although he wasn’t seriously injured.  He’d cuts on his face and a golfball-sized lump on his forehead.  If he’d been left on the street who knows what could have happened to him…”

Jonny hasn’t seen Kristoff since the incident but is planning to call around and check how he is.

He says his hope is that “while Kristoff saw a side of Northern Ireland that no-one should have to see, he also saw the side where a stranger, with no connections to him, chose to get involved and help him out.”