UNSUNG HEROES
CABBIE HELPS CATCH ARMED ROBBER WHO TERRIFIED STAFF IN SHOPPING CENTRE NEAR SUNDERLAND
An armed robber who terrified staff in a shopping centre stall in Washington was caught by a taxi driver, security staff and members of the public who detained him at the scene. According to the Northern Echo, Anthony Potts, 34, was sentenced to more than three years behind bars after he threatened a stall holder in Washington as part of an early morning crime-spree earlier this year. Newcastle Crown Court was told how the thief entered The Galleries at around 9.30am on 9 March, before approaching staff working on a mobile phone stall. The offender then pulled out a hammer and swung it onto the till, putting a hole in it, smashing it onto the ground and demanded cash. Feeling threatened, the stall holder
picked up notes which had fallen to the ground from the damaged till and handed them over to the offender. Potts then walked off with the money and started to approach shoppers minutes later, asking for their car keys. Becoming agitated in an exchange with one couple, he moved the hammer to his right hand but was told to “jog on” by the man.
Potts then left the centre and got in the driver’s seat of a taxi as the driver helped an elderly customer. He threw the stolen cash in the air and refused to get out. The taxi driver was not deterred by Potts, and eventually succeeded in pulling him out, although Potts snapped his car key fob in the struggle. He was then detained by the driver, members of the public and security
staff until police arrived and arrested him at the scene. Potts, from Gateshead, later admitted robbery, attempted robbery and pos- sessing an offensive weapon and was sentenced to 45 months imprisonment. Detective Sergeant Kimberley Wright, of Northumbria Police, praised those who helped to detain him at the scene. He said: “We are really pleased to have been able to put Anthony Potts before the courts, it must have been a shock- ing ordeal for everyone involved. “Fortunately, after Potts fled the scene, thanks to the bravery and determina- tion of a taxi driver, security staff and members of the public, it wasn’t long until Potts found himself in handcuffs. “I would like to thank everyone involved in bringing Potts to justice.”
MAN STABBED FOUR TIMES IN BIRMINGHAM ATTACK WANTS TO FIND CABBIE WHO SAVED HIS LIFE
A man stabbed four times in a shocking street attack is desperate to find a taxi driver who ‘saved his life’. According to BirminghamLive, the victim, 30, thought his heart “burst” after being knifed in the Winson Green onslaught on July 3. And despite laying defenceless in Dudley Road, pleading with his two attackers not to kill him, they began raining down on him with metal bars. The beating left the victim - now in recovery - with shattered bones and both mentally and physically scarred. But he believes it could have been much worse had the brave taxi driver not intervened, scaring off his attackers. Now, the victim wants help in locating the cabbie to thank him for his heroism. He told BirminghamLive: “Without him, I would be dead. He saved my life. “I was stabbed four times down my back and once in the lung. When they
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pierced my lung, I thought they’d stabbed me in my heart. I thought I was dying. “The taxi man was the only person to run over and help. I remember every- one else recording on their phones. “He put pressure on my lung, using his finger to stop me bleeding out. I need to find him to say thank you for saving my life.”
On the brutal attack, which broke out at around 4.30am, he added: “It started
off as an argument but then they pushed me against the shutters and stabbed me. “I fell to the floor, but they carried on hitting me with metal bars and broke my arm. One of them pulled my hood over my head so I couldn’t see. “At this point I was screaming ‘stop you’re killing me, you’re killing me’, but they wouldn’t listen. That’s what upsets me the most - the way they carried on even after stabbing me.” The victim, who didn’t want to be named out of fear for his own safety, said “nothing like this has ever happened” to him before. He added: “I haven’t managed to sleep for about two weeks. My doctor is saying it will take me six months to recover physically.” West Midlands Police is yet to make any arrests but confirmed the force is still investigating.
AUGUST 2022
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