Once a hero, always a hero.

[jonren]

Well done Sergeant Major.

www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article2192918.ece

[Libby]

Brilliant, what a trooper! Shame no-one went to help him and the old boy was injured. A real hero!

[oldmanofthesea]

I am afraid its a sign of our times. Maybe the others stood back when it was a robbery, but to let the old fellow get beaten was sheer cowardice. At least the judge gave the gobshite a decent sentence although he will probably only serve a third of it. Big of Corals to give the hero a £30 voucher. Tight fisted b*******

[VikingHumpingWitch]

Jonren, please. I cannot read anything from the Sun, could you at least give us a few lines of the article so I can get some idea what it's about?

[Libby]

The trouble is these days people are hesitant to intervene for two reasons, namely that they will get hurt and also they will get charged for an offence. It's pathetic that the bystanders permitted an elderly man to be attacked while he was trying to stop the robber!

Heres some more info for you VHW ~

WHEN Sid Bannister was a soldier during the Second World War he knew he could always rely on his comrades for help — no matter what the danger.

They were all mates, all striving to keep the Nazis out of Britain and all utterly loyal to each other.
That was simply the way things were in those days and Sid — now an 83-year-old widower — thought that was how things had remained.

So the D-Day veteran was appalled when he stepped in to tackle an armed robber in his busy local bookies and NOBODY came to his aid.

Sid, who needed stitches to his wounds later, said last night:

There were nine other blokes in the shop and most of them were either half my age or younger.

I just wish one of them had shown some gumption.

If just one had stepped in we might have got the b***** there and then. Instead, he got away.

Sid’s bravery, caught on CCTV, helped to convict Rockson and was rewarded yesterday when Judge Mushtaq Khokhar awarded him £200 at Manchester Crown Court for his “great public spiritedness”.

Rockson, who was eventually caught driving a stolen car, was jailed for 12 years after admitting 20 offences and asking for another 13 to be considered.

The brute pleaded guilty to a string of gunpoint robberies — including the Coral bookies raid — and also handling stolen goods and having a replica firearm.

Sid, of Lees, Greater Manchester, said: “I’m grateful for what the judge said but I wasn’t being brave that day. I just acted on instinct which I hope most men would have done.

Sid intervened as burly Henry Rockson, 30, walked in brandishing a pistol and demanded cash from two women behind the counter.

The pensioner barely hesitated and grabbed hooded Rockson. As they grappled, Sid shouted to the other customers — most much younger than him — “Give us a lift.”

But instead of leaping to 5ft 8in Sid’s rescue, they watched him being beaten over the head twice with the butt of 6ft 2in Rockson’s gun before the raider fled with £250.

“I thought, ‘He’s got a gun, I can’t have this. He can’t walk in here, in a room full of blokes, and scare the hell out of these women’.

“He was swinging the gun around, hitting my head. I could feel blood running down my face and neck and covering my shirt. I didn’t think about the gun or being shot. I was concerned about getting the guy so he wouldn’t be allowed to do this again.

“But nobody helped me and I thought I couldn’t carry on holding him and drag him to the floor because he’d be facing me with the gun and would fire it.

“Two of the people in the bookies were pensioners. You wouldn’t expect them to do anything.

“The others were in their 30s and 40s. I would have thought one or two would have had a go. They were able-bodied.

“I thought they were either scared or had frozen.

“Maybe its a sign of the times that people don’t want to get involved these days.”

He believed that violence in Britain needed a tougher response by the Government.

Sid, who has two daughters — Val, 57, and Julie, 53 — and four grandchildren aged between 20 and 28, said: “Criminals get out of jail without serving their full sentences and that’s why there is so much knife crime.

“The prisons are too soft. Criminals get TVs to watch when their sentences should be punishment.”

Coral gave Sid £30-worth of vouchers after the raid last August.

He had been about to stake £1 on a horse when Rockson arrived.

Sid said: “I didn’t get the chance to put my bet on. But this hasn’t put me off going to the bookies.

“I’ve seen some of the blokes who were in there that day but they’ve never mentioned it since.”

Sid, whose dad was a First World War sergeant major, was the youngest of four brothers to serve in the Second World War.

One of them, Jack, was killed aged 23 during fighting in Italy.

Sid was a supplies driver with the Royal Army Service Corps.

Coral spokesman David Stevens said: “Sid, in his struggle with this man, managed to dislodge his scarf which meant his face showed up clearly on CCTV. This led to him being identified.

“We would never encourage staff or customers to tackle an assailant.

“However, people in the heat of the moment react differently.”