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SPEAKING ENGLISH WITH a Slavic accent, a man known only as “John Smith” because he does not remember his real name is proving a mystery for Norwegian police.
The tall, young amnesiac was found helpless in the snow near a car wash in Oslo last December. How he got there, and from where, he has no idea.
“What apparently has happened is that I was robbed, I was for sure sexually assaulted, and then I was thrown onto a street in Oslo,” he said today.
“What might have happened is that they took advantage of the fact that Europe has open borders — this amazing European invention — and that they basically used Oslo as a garbage place to dump me,” he said, without knowing who “they” are.
Police refused to comment on the more personal aspects of his testimony, but it is the violent and sexual crime unit that has been put in charge of the investigation.
“Maybe I was too trustful. Maybe I let some people too close to me and they had some fun with me,” said “John Smith”.
The man, who is 6 feet 1 inch with blue eyes and dark blonde hair, speaks good English with an Eastern European accent and understands Czech, Slovak, Polish and Russian.
Which of these is his native language is anyone’s guess, including his own. But he says he “thinks and dreams” in English, and so thinks he may have spent some time in an English-speaking country.
‘Nearly dead’
Aged about 20, “John Smith” was in a very weak condition and poorly dressed for the severe Norwegian winter when discovered in December.
“I was already blue in face,” he said. “If nobody saw me, I would definitely be dead by the morning, most probably much, much sooner.”
“I had on my wrists very big, very bloody traces of plastic strips that they use to tie up cables … It was so tight that even now you can still see spots on my wrists,” he said.
Police initially turned to international police organisation Interpol and more than a dozen nations to compare fingerprints and DNA with their databases to unravel the mystery, but in vain.
No closer to a solution, law enforcers took the extra step on Tuesday of releasing the man’s photo to the public, in the hope of finding new clues.
“We have received information from Norway but also from other countries and we find some of that information very interesting,” Oslo police spokesman Sturla Henriksboe told AFP.
“It’s particularly from the Czech Republic that we have received information,” Henriksboe said.
While “John Smith” remembers nothing about himself, he is sure of one thing: he is a stranger in Norway.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been here before in this country,” he said.
I don’t think I came to this country out of my own free will because I’m used to a very different weather, a much warmer weather. The weather here is basically hurting me.
Could a rake of lads not push it on a bit?
@Insider at RTE: sexist
@Insider at RTE: I doubt it , if one of them pulled a muscle then they’d have a lawsuit on their hands!
Joke city..
@Tim McCormack29: yeah cause no bus or couches break down in any other city in the world
@Warren Mcdermott: You’re quick to have a go at Tim there mate!! Tell me this..when was the last time you actually saw ,’a couch’ broken down in any city in the world????
@The digenous: seen one in Sydney when I was living their also seen a broken down taxi in New York hold up traffic for ages, vehicles break down every day and some times takes time to move them doesn’t matter what city or town
@Warren Mcdermott: they are Coaches Warren. “Couches” as you posted don’t break down. You sit on them.
@The digenous: sorry about the spelling didn’t mean to upset u that much
@The digenous: He missed the sarcasm.
@Jay Harmon: indeed he did Jay:-)
@Warren Mcdermott: saw not seen
@The digenous: he gave your intelligence too much credit thinking you’d know he meant coaches.Warren, try understand some people struggle with sentences and words….and life.
@Tim McCormack29: amazing you cant a tow truck there to tow it of the luas at least
Should have built it underground. Our problems stem from the fact that politicians make decisions about infrastructure when they haven’t a clue
@Irish Spider-Man: That would make sense. It could still be done and no bus passengers would have to wait in the rain for a bus or tram ever again.
@Irish Spider-Man: Dublins problem is that culchie politicians who have no interest in Dublin being a premier city hold the purse strings. They’d rather upgrade a minor country road in their own constituency to ensure their re-election.
Things like this should be able to rectified in MINUTES !!!!! useless city management !
@Con Veron: Luckily it wasn’t clamped into the bargain.
@Con Veron: yeah let’s station tow trucks large enough to pull busses on every corner of the city. How do you propose tow trucks get through the traffic when needed?
@Craic_a_tower: Garda escort. It’s been done a few times before for when a Dublin bus broke down in a bad spot. They escorted a tow truck from one of their depots which are strategically placed aground the city centre. Perhaps have a tow truck available from Broadstone to cover the city centre area.
@Kárl: and that is going to take MINUTES? Nonsense! Unrealistic
@Craic_a_tower: well it might take fifteen minutes to get there, assuming that there is a structure on call system. Then about 10 minutes to attach a hitch/tow bar and pull vehicle of the tram line. These things to take time to do. You just can’t wave a magic wand for the problem to go away. Alternatively wait more than an hour for a tow car from a further destination.
What’s your alternative solution please?
@Kárl: Except this isn’t a Dublin Bus or CIE group vehicle. Why should CIE give access or help to a competitor ?
@Alan Dillon: It’s not to help a competitor. It’s to clear the blockage so as CIE services can operate with minimum delay. CIE have the infrastructure. They would not be doing it for free. They would receive a call or charge.
Just think, when the LUAS cannot operate, Dublin Bus accept their tickets. Not to help a competitor, but to get passengers moving, and LUAS pay Dublin bus for accepting these tights. It’s not a fee ride.
@Kárl: who says there needs to be a solution for every possible problem? Sheer expense prohibits solutions for occasional problems. The same reason we don’t have snow ploughs. You sound like Homer when he took over the binmen.
@Craic_a_tower: errrr…we do have snow plough.
All too common in Dublin lately. LUAS system badly designed with too few escape lines for such instances. Dublin City Council should also have a city centre based towing company on call to move large vehicles out of the way when they break down in awkward spots. Sometimes the rescue vehicle has to come from as far away as Lusk. This is unacceptable.
@Kárl: Its the city centre. The amount of space is at a premium and renting out a place big enough in the city centre area (if you can find it) is too costly for what is an occasional problem.
@Alan Dillon: It’s happening quite frequently now, as the city gets busier. You don’t need to rent out space. The facilities are there already. You task Dublin Bus who have depots in the city environs, with tow cars to react to this type of incident. They would only have to move the vehicle away from whatever is being obstructed, you a better position. Then, whoever the owner of the vehicle has engaged to come to their rescue can take over when they eventually arrive. The owner of the broken down vehicle would pay Dublin bus a small fee for the service.
Have been sitting on a luas tram for the last 50 minutes. At every single stop the driver has to wait for the next stop to clear. Around me 200 people are on their phones cancelling meetings or explaining to bosses why they are late. It is beyond ridiculous!
@Zmeevo Libe: would they not hop off at an available stop and get into a taxi?
@becca laste: If we were near the centre, we would. Unfortunately we were at Windy Arbour at the time i was writing this.
OK I know it’s not the same but there’s a video of passengers lifting a mini that was blocking the tracks of a tram in Nottingham. All you really need is one of those “stongmen” or “strongwomen” and a good rope to move a coach. A dozen or so passengers could probably push it out of the way.
This is why we don’t want a LUAS in Cork. Give us electric buses with dedicated lanes. Electric buses that aren’t on a fixed track can go around obstacles.
@John Ó’Ríordán: In da Big Smoke we had those electric trolley buses over 100 years ago. Glad to see you are no longer 200 years behind.
@Towger: funny how plenty of European cities still have them , trolleybuses that is. its dublin that’s behind
This is the third time if a few weeks now. A broken down bus on a particular area of tram track in the city brought the whole green line to a near standstill. It is wasn’t just the stops between St Stephen’s Green and from Dominick St, the trams were stopping at random stations for 20 minutes.
As far as I can make out, the bus was there for three hours.
If so, that is far too long.
Puncture ??
negative comment…….
I have to say but luas has been problematic since Day 1
It’s a bus ffs… Coach me hole
If the Loobus had retractable buffers then the coach coild be shifted double quick
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