Aide who wrote Cameron's hug-a-hoodie speech is attacked... by a HOODIE

He wrote the speech in which David Cameron famously urged the nation to 'hug a hoodie'.

But former Tory special adviser Danny Kruger found his words coming back to haunt him when he was punched in the face by a 'rat-faced boy' in a hooded tracksuit top.

The 34-year-old had chased after a gang of boys after seeing two of them steal a moped.

But his efforts to tackle youth crime firsthand ended with him nursing a split lip after one of the hoodies hit him in the mouth.

Mr Kruger, an Old Etonian like his former employer Mr Cameron, said the incident happened when he and his wife Emma went to view a flat in Camden, North London, in May.

They were talking to the owner when they spotted two teenagers riding away on the householder's moped, with boys following on foot.

Writing about the experience in The Spectator political magazine, Mr Kruger said: 'Like the pair of prats we were, the owner and I tackled youth crime.

'When we caught up with the pedestrians, we received between us a black eye (owner) and a cut lip (me), and no moped.

'My main memory of this incident is rather horrid: The spit-filled mouth of the little rat-faced boy who punched me. 

'Short, white, in a grey hooded tracksuit, he shouted at me with all the rage of Cain: The most astonishing indignation.'

Mr Kruger said his attacker was typical of 'a generation of scowling young Londoners', but insisted he stood by his controversial 'hug a hoodie' exhortation.

He said: 'This speech has gone down in Tory lore as a terrible blunder, but I am still rather proud of it.

'The nub of it was that while we should certainly punish people who cross the line into criminality, on this side of the line we need to show a lot more love.

'Love is a neglected crimefighting device.'

Understanding: Conservative party leader David Cameron talks to the cast of controversial film Kidulthood

Mr Kruger cannot be accused of not practising what he preaches. The son of chef Prue Leith, he and his wife regularly share a house with a group of ex-prisoners.

They founded the prison rehabilitation charity Only Connect, which stages plays with casts of former inmates in an attempt to help them adjust to life after jail.

Mr and Mrs Kruger, both committed Christians, live for several days a week with cast members in a rented house near the charity's theatre in Kings Cross.

The former newspaper journalist quit his job with the Conservatives in May to work full-time with the charity and said he wanted 'to do something real rather than just theoretical' to tackle crime.

This week however, Boris Johnson told youngsters to 'walk away' if they witnessed a fight in the street in case they were stabbed.

The London Mayor said he would tell his children to 'look after themselves first' before helping a victim.

Mr Johnson lives with his family a few streets away from where teenager Ben Kinsella was attacked last weekend.

His comments came as it emerged that the number of school-age youngsters admitted to hospital with knife wounds has almost doubled in five years.