SENT FLYING
‘Legend’ who floored bungling thief as he fled with charity box reveals how he ‘stomped at him like a pigeon’
Jerome Denton, 21, tripped up Joshua Starkey stopping him in his tracks after he stole a British Heart Foundation box
THE hero who stopped a thug stealing a charity box at a train station has been revealed.
Jerome Denton, 21, tripped up the thief after he'd pinched a British Heart Foundation box at a Subway branch in Hull Paragon Interchange station.
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He told: “I tripped him over and he went flying and then when he tried to grab the charity box again, I stomped at him like a pigeon and gave him a good chastising.
"I said: ‘You don’t steal from charity’.”
Denton was walking to work on March 25 when he saw Joshua Starkey, 23, charging towards him with the stolen box.
After getting the box back from the thief he returned it to the Subway it was stolen from.
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He said he was met with cheers and applause from onlookers who witnessed his heroic act.
He added: “As I left people were clapping and shaking my hand.
“It felt like Chariots of Fire should have been playing.”
CCTV footage captured the amazing moment Denton tripped the thug fleeing with the stolen charity shop.
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Starkey was later tracked down by cops and slapped with a 16-week prison sentence for the bungled theft.
Video of the incident shows Starkey skulk into the Subway and approach the unmanned tills.
He then slyly puts his hand over the charity box as a member of staff approaches him.
Starkey panics and wrenches the box off the counter in a bid to make a speedy getaway, yanking the till's monitor and other display items on to the shop floor.
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But as he sprints away from the scene of the crime, Denton spots Starkey and sticks a single leg out to stop him dead in his tracks.
Starkey crashes to the concrete and drops his loot on the pavement before getting up and legging it.
Even though Starkey fled the scene, cops quickly identified him and put him in handcuffs for criminal damage and theft - which he admitted at court.
He was ordered to pay £85 costs in addition to his custodial sentence.
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And he was also given a five-year prison sentence in relation to other defences investigated by Humberside Police.
PC Paul Hobman from British Transport Police said: "A huge congratulations are in order for the courageous member of the public who quite literally stepped in to prevent Starkey from stealing money which was intended for a good cause.
"Starkey’s actions in attempting to steal a charity collection box were disgraceful and I am pleased the judge imposed a prison sentence. I hope that his days of offending are behind him."
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