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Footage of the moment Paul Whitehouse was set upon by a stranger at a cashpoint has been released.
The Fast Show and Gone Fishing star was the victim of the attack over the weekend, which took place as the comedian had gone out to pick up his wife’s medication.
The moment the beloved funnyman was shoved away from the ATM was caught on CCTV from across a busy London road.
The footage shows Whitehouse approach the cash machine in Islington, only for a man to walk up and push him away, provoking a standoff between the two.
The flare-up appears to have happened because the comedian went up to the cashpoint before the attacker, as both were waiting for it to become free.
The CCTV footage shows the attacker throwing Whitehouse’s bank card at him, which the comedian retrieved from the pavement.
A shopkeeper who witnessed the attack told the Daily Mail the escalation was ‘completely disproportionate’ and ‘no doubt terrifying for Paul’.
They added: ‘He’s a hugely popular character around here. Everyone knows and loves him so there’s been a lot of upset over the news. To be fair, it wasn’t really a mugging as first reported – it was more like queue rage.
‘But that doesn’t make it any less awful – to attack a man who is nearly 70 just because he didn’t notice you were waiting is shocking behaviour. The bloke needs to be caught before he does this to someone else.’
His wife Dr Mine Conkbayir shared details of the attack over the weekend, characterising it as an attempted mugging.
‘Well, a horrid start to the weekend would be an understatement,’ she wrote on Instagram.
‘Yesterday, I had a bad reaction to some treatment, which has left me feeling rather rotten. So, last night, Paul dashed out to get me some meds. He was mugged on Essex Road (Islington) – at the cashpoint beside the Sainsbury’s Local.’
According to Dr Conkbayir, Whitehouse fought off his attacker and retrieved his card, leaving the person to ‘scuttle away empty-handed’.
‘I kept shtum, out of respect, but he just came over, having taken our daughter to football, still frustrated,’ she continued.
‘I asked whether he’d like me to post – he said yes – in the hope that it might help folk to be more aware when out and about. So, please, everyone – I don’t mean to patronise, but please be super vigilant out there.’