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Soon after moving to St-Henri seven years ago, Stephen Oliver was walking his boxer Norton late at night when a dozen youths approached him in a park, threatening to beat him and steal his dog.

He nervously laughed it off, escaped unscathed, and never let it deter him from the neighbourhood.

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After a recent rash of muggings in St-Henri, Oliver is now offering to walk people to and from the Place-Saint-Henri métro station at night, with Norton in tow, to prevent any future attacks.

“I walk my dog two-to-three times every evening,” Oliver said on Tuesday. If he can help someone who’s feeling nervous or scared simply by walking with them, he added, “then I don’t see why I wouldn’t do it.”

Oliver is one of several residents reacting to a string of attacks that’s led to an increased police presence in the neighbourhood.

Joshua Harley, a martial arts trainer who co-owns a gym in the area, is offering free self-defence courses to anyone from St-Henri. Harley started by reaching out to Andre Hobson, a 22-year-old who was mugged in the neighbourhood last week, hoping the courses could help his self-esteem and recovery.