- Posted in Fire Blog
TWO brave men have been recognised by the chief of
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) for their
actions which resulted in a would-be robber being sentenced to five
years in prison.
GMFRS's County Fire Officer Steve McGuirk (CFO) presented
Firefighter Dan Winters and member of the public Tony Crompton with
certificates at a ceremony held at Bolton North Fire Station last
night (Monday, January 28).
At around 4.30pm on Friday, August 3, Green Watch firefighters
from Bolton North Fire Station were refuelling their fire engine
when they noticed a man acting suspiciously as he ran out of the
post office on Lea Gate in Harwood.
Firefighter Dan Winters said: "A woman with a baby in a pram and
another woman came running out, all the alarms went off and then a
man came out wearing a gorilla mask.
"He looked around, I think looking for his getaway car but I
assume we'd scared them off with the fire engine.
"Our driver put the blue lights and sirens on and I jumped off
the engine and chased him.
"I caught up with him at the same time as a Tony - we pinned him
down and took his mask and what we thought was a gun off
him."
Tony had also seen the man run out of the post office.
Tony said: "I am happy to be recognised for what we did on that
day in August, although I just reacted to the panic of the people
running out of the post office.
"My adrenalin came from my anger that someone was committing a
crime in my own area and I reacted on impulse.
"Once Dan and I caught up to the robber and restrained him, he
didn't really struggle, he seemed to be resigned to the fact he had
been caught."
CFO Steve McGuirk said: "I'm proud to recognise the outstanding
actions of Dan and Tony, who both demonstrated great courage that
day with little regard for their own safety.
"Their selfless actions have also been commended by the chief at
Greater Manchester Police and the judge as the would-be robber was
sentenced to five years at Bolton Crown Court on October 12."
