A have-a-go hero has been pictured springing into action and pinning down a mugger just seconds after he swiped an 82-year-old woman’s handbag.
Benjamin Brown had started to make off after snatching the bag, but was floored by former doorman Sam Woodward as he fled a Leicester car park.
Woodward, 33, held Brown in an arm lock for ten minutes until the police arrived.
He told The Sun: “I saw him shove her handbag up his jumper and start legging it across the car park.
“I just instinctively jumped out of the van and started chasing him.”
Brown, 31, was jailed for five years after admitting the robbery in July 2011 and a string of other offences at Leicester Crown Court earlier this week.
Among his previous convictions were the theft of three medals worth £600 from a war memorabilia stall in nearby Loughborough, the Daily Mail reported.
Woodward has visited the victim, who was collecting her pension when she was mugged, in hospital, the Leicester Mercury revealed.
She was treated for cuts, grazes and a knee injury and kept under observation overnight.
Woodward added: “What he did was lower than low. She probably just popped out for a pint of milk, and she shouldn’t be scared to do that.
“When I imagine someone doing something like that to my mum, I would want someone to do what I did.”
Hero: Sam Woodward held down Benjamin Brown after he mugged a pensioner
Jailed: Benjamin Brown admitted robbery and a string of other offences