It is not often we hear of a good news story, too often the world is reported as a dystopian and threatening place, but sometimes out of bad can come good if the right person is around. As Raymond Chandler wrote, "Down these mean streets a man must go, who is not himself mean" Such a man is the hero of this small vignette of city life.

Bailiff Gary Sandy provided his profession with a fine role model recently, when he intervened to stop an elderly woman driver being mugged for her mobile phone. Gary was working in the London office of Staffordshire-based Dukes Bailiffs near Regent's Park when he stepped outside for some fresh air, just in time to see an apparently drunk or drugged man attacking the motorist, whose car was stuck at a red traffic light.He intervened and nabbed the attacker, returning the phone to its shocked owner, only to find the miscreant menacing a second member of the public, this time an elderly pedestrian.

Round two. Gary downed the aggressor, even though he was by now attempting to produce a lockknife from the waistband of his trousers. Police arrived in time to arrest the man, but it took six officers to subdue and remove him.

Gary has since received a call from the London Met thanking him for his have-a-go heroics, but he remains modest about his actions.

'People might think of bailiffs as naturally aggressive but actually it's the last thing on our minds' he says. 'Our job is to defuse any anger; if we couldn't do that we'd never last in the job".
Gary's boss Colin Naylor is Chairman of the Association of Civil Enforcement Agencies and is proud of his man. 'It's good that the public can see we're on the side of the angels' he comments 'and Gary's actions make him a genuine hero'.

If you want to know more about the work bailffs do, visit Dukes Bailiffs for more information