'I didn't have time to be scared,' says Britain's bravest OAP who unmasked sledgehammer jewellery robber



The 84-year-old man who foiled a jewellery raid by whipping off the mask of a sledgehammer-wielding hoodie has told how he thought the incident was a prank.

Have-a-go-hero William Grove stood up to the attackers while a crowd of shoppers stood by and watched.



As the two robbers smashed the jeweller's window with sledgehammers, Mr Grove stepped out from the crowd and, proudly wearing a poppy on his lapel, walked up to the robbers as they pounded the reinforced windows.





Moment of truth: William Grove, 83, rips away the would-be robber's balaclava

He then grabbed one of them by the shoulder and pulled the balaclava from his face.



The pair were so alarmed that one of them had been unmasked that they fled to a waiting silver car and sped off.

Speaking to The Times today, Mr Grove said: "At first I thought it was a prank and that there were hidden cameras. The sledgehammers were bright orange - but when I realised it was real I went over."



The former RAF man added: "My plan was to carry out a move I had been taught in the Forcesand wait for others to help.



"I was going to grab his head and put my knee in the man's back before grabbing him round the chest, holding him until the others intervened," he told The Times.



The robbers were so shocked by Mr Grove's intervention, right, that they fled

However, as Mr Grove tried to disable the man, he tore off his balaclava.



He added: "As soon as this happened I think they were both so taken by surprise at what I did that they just ran off.



"I didn't have time to be scared, it was all over in about two minutes."

Then, with a modesty rarely seen these days, the 6ft 3in pensioner explained to police arriving at the scene that he couldn't stop as he had to dash to an appointment.

With that, he handed them his business card, hopped on a bus and was gone.



Nick Thompson, a 35-year-old IT technician who saw the pensioner single-handedly foil the raid from his office opposite the jeweller's, said: 'I thought it was brilliant that someone in this day and age can still have the guts to take on someone much younger and bigger.

'Heroes like that don't think twice about these things.

'There must have been about 40 or 50 people watching but he was the only who thought, "Hang on a minute, I'm not putting up this". We were all amazed he had the guts to do it.'



Police, who believe the robbers may have got away with just one watch, are hunting two black men aged between 18 and 20 and the driver of the getaway car.



They have already interviewed Mr Grove, a former civil servant, who is said to have smiled to the crowd after his dramatic intervention on Thursday lunchtime at Ernest Jones in Richmond, South-West London.



'He gave this great little smile and then walked to catch his bus,' said Mr Thompson. 'He must have known it was about to come and didn't want to miss it.'



Another witness, Ed Hardman, described the moment the robber was unmasked.



He said: 'The robber looked really confused and didn't know what to do, but yelled to his mates, put his hood up and ran off. The old guy was a bit of a hero because no one else wanted to take on these two guys with huge sledgehammers.'



Mr Thompson's brother Murray, who also witnessed the robbery, said: 'I'm put to shame by what an 80-year-old did.'



A police source said: 'His actions freaked them out and they just ran.



'It's great that this man through his bravery managed to foil a robbery by himself and fortunately he doesn't seem to have been injured.'



Ernest Jones said it would be rewarding Mr Grove, who uses a walking stick, with a Rolex watch as a thank you.















