Second World War veteran ignored as he tackles gunman

[Colin1]

A SECOND World War veteran who grappled with a gunman during an armed robbery has told how onlookers ignored his pleas for help.
Sidney Bannister, aged 83, grabbed 30-year old Henry Rockson in a headlock as the robber ran from a bookmaker's shop. During the struggle Mr Bannister appealed to the nine other customers, mostly young men, to help him but they would not step in.
Rockson escaped after beating the pensioner twice over the head with the butt of his gun. He later carried out armed raids in other parts of the country.

"Maybe it's just a sign of the times that people do not want to get involved these days" said Mr Bannister, who received stitches to his head after the robbery in Oldham. "I am not exactly in my prime but in my day we were brought up to have a go and not be a shrinking violet when we saw something happening that was very wrong.
I did not think about the gun or about being shot. I was more concerned about getting the guy so he would not be allowed to do this again. There were nine other men in the shop and most of them were either half my age or younger.

I just wish one of them had shown some gumption."

Rockson, of Peckham, south-east London, was jailed for 12 years yesterday after admitting 20 offences including the Oldham robbery.
Judge Mushtaq Khokhar at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, awarded Mr Bannister £200 for his 'great public-spiritedness.'

The Daily Telegraph
Saturday January 31 2009

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Got to say, he had guts to take on that gunman by himself. Don't know why the other nine men didn't help. Myself, I wouldn't take on a gunman by myself, but would've glady helped out Mr. Bannister. Who knows, maybe those guys were afraid of getting sued by the perp's family, that's happened before.

 

[lesofprimus]

Piss on that, I woulda had that prick on the floor with a broken arm and a shattered sternum in 4 seconds....

That Vet shoulda got up with the blood streamin off his head and punched the first onlooker right in the mush.... Fuc*in cowards....

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Piss on that, I woulda had that prick on the floor with a broken arm and a shattered sternum in 4 seconds....

That Vet shoulda got up with the blood streamin off his head and punched the first onlooker right in the mush.... Fuc*in cowards....

Ahh, but your the ex SEAL, I'm just a snotnosed college student. Still, I wouldn't just sit idly watching a vet tussle with some thug. I always had this idea of hiding behind a door if a gunman showed up in my high school. When the SOB walks through, I'd whack with a chair of go for his gun.

 

[lesofprimus]

True enough VZ, but to stand there and do nothing is just pathetic, and I hope all those 9 guys that stood there all felt some guilt at being such pussies....

 

[Njaco]

Judge Mushtaq Khokhar at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, awarded Mr Bannister £200 for his 'great public-spiritedness.'

Over here Mr. Bannister would have been charged with creating a public nuisance.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

True enough VZ, but to stand there and do nothing is just pathetic, and I hope all those 9 guys that stood there all felt some guilt at being such pussies....

I get what you're saying. I would feel lower than sh!t if I just stood there, and couldn't coop with the guilt. I've only gotten into a serious fight once, and it was over in a few seconds; had some guy make fun of me on the bus to a BB game, so I turned and punched him a few times in the head, never had a problem with him since.

 

[Colin1]

Over here Mr. Bannister would have been charged with creating a public nuisance.

Hey, don't worry
we're not far behind you; one Tony Martin spent time inside for blowing a thief away when two of them broke into his home. They made him do the full term because he refused to show any contrition for his 'crime'.
There's a growing sentiment over here that the judicial system protects the guilty and punishes the victim if he has the pluck to hit back.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Hey, don't worry
we're not far behind you; one Tony Martin spent time inside for blowing a thief away when two of them broke into his home. They made him do the full term because he refused to show any contrition for his 'crime'.
There's a growing sentiment over here that the judicial system protects the guilty and punishes the victim if he has the pluck to hit back.

Well I'm sure if that happened in Berkely, California, there would have been an uproar against Mr. Bannister. Colin, what was the charge against Tony Martin?

 

[Colin1]

Well I'm sure if that happened in Berkely, California, there would have been an uproar against Mr. Bannister. Colin, what was the charge against Tony Martin?

I don't recall
but likely manslaughter, I don't know what you guys call it but 'not quite murder'; they reasoned his response was excessive. Though he wasn't a pensioner, Mr Martin wasn't a young man and a couple of thugs breaking into his home was probably quite intimidating.

They pictured the two thugs during the trial, including the dead one - believe me, he did the gene pool a favour.

 

[lesofprimus]

He was charged with manslaughter and it was the 5th time his home was broken into... Enough is enough....

 

[Erich]

Dan is right, enough of this crap of just watching someone get the stuff beat out of them and for what ? get in there and help, take whatever measures it seems correct to bring down the assailant.

dang guys are becoming such pussies these days

 

[lesofprimus]

Totally agree Erich...

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

I don't recall
but likely manslaughter, I don't know what you guys call it but 'not quite murder'; they reasoned his response was excessive. Though he wasn't a pensioner, Mr Martin wasn't a young man and a couple of thugs breaking into his home was probably quite intimidating.

They pictured the two thugs during the trial, including the dead one - believe me, he did the gene pool a favour.

That's bullshit! He protects himself and his property from two thugs, and he was the one imprisoned!!!?? What the hell has happened to the world?!

 

[GrauGeist]

Those 9 asshats probably didn't jump in to help Mr. Bannister because they had soiled themselves...

Society has become nothing but sheep this day and age, and that's when the wolves come out...

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Those 9 asshats probably didn't jump in to help Mr. Bannister because they had soiled themselves...

Society has become nothing but sheep this day and age, and that's when the wolves come out...

I think part of the reason is that if you look at someone the wrong way, you'll get sued. There was a case in California where a woman sued a good samitiaran from her crashed car. Apparetenely, she'd suffered spine damage in the crash, and when her rescuer pulled her out she'd became a parapelegic. She won her court case, but where the hell do you drawn the line?!

 

[GrauGeist]

Yeah, I remember that...what a load of crap...

If the guy didn't try and help, then he'd probably have been sued for not helping!

The idiots that sue for personal "damages" don't understand that the people and companies they sue have to get the money from somewhere...so it's not "magical" money pulled off a tree somewhere, but ends up coming out of consumer's pockets in the form of increased insurance rates or product price hikes, etc...

No matter, I'd have still come to Mr. Bannister's aid, and then sort the details later.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Yeah, I remember that...what a load of crap...

If the guy didn't try and help, then he'd probably have been sued for not helping!

The idiots that sue for personal "damages" don't understand that the people and companies they sue have to get the money from somewhere...so it's not "magical" money pulled off a tree somewhere, but ends up coming out of consumer's pockets in the form of increased insurance rates or product price hikes, etc...

No matter, I'd have still come to Mr. Bannister's aid, and then sort the details later.

Exactly, he got sued when he helped, and if he didn't helped he still would've gotten sued, he'd be f##ked either way.

I still don't know what I would do if I was there seeing Mr. Bannister fight with the thug. I've never been in that situation, so I don't know how I would react. Hopefully, I'd do the right thing and step in.

 

[Hop]

That's bullshit! He protects himself and his property from two thugs, and he was the one imprisoned!!!??

That wasn't the case with Tony Martin.

He was tried, and convicted, for murder. It was finally reduced to manslaughter on appeal because doctors convinced the court he suffered from paranoia so wasn't fully responsible for his actions.

Martin had a history. He fired a revolver in to his girlfriend's house many years earlier when she refused to see him. He lost his shotgun licence after shooting at someone who had taken some apples from his tree.

The reasons Martin was convicted of murder:

He had frequently told people of his hatred of gypsies, and how he'd like to kill them. (the burglars were gypsies)

After shooting them, he left the scene, hid the shotgun at his mother's house, then checked in to a hotel for the night. He didn't inform the police.

When questioned by the police, he lied about the events. He claimed to have fired from the top of the stairs. Ballistics evidence showed he come down stairs, chased after the burglars, and shot them in the back as they ran away.

Martin is often held up as the poster boy for self defence, but what he did doesn't fit under the category of self defence. He decided to punish burglars by killing them, which is a different thing altogether.

They made him do the full term because he refused to show any contrition for his 'crime'.

Martin was released after serving 3 years. His original life sentence for murder had been reduced to 5 years for manslaughter.

 

[RabidAlien]

That wasn't the case with Tony Martin.

He was tried, and convicted, for murder. It was finally reduced to manslaughter on appeal because doctors convinced the court he suffered from paranoia so wasn't fully responsible for his actions.

Martin had a history. He fired a revolver in to his girlfriend's house many years earlier when she refused to see him. He lost his shotgun licence after shooting at someone who had taken some apples from his tree.

The reasons Martin was convicted of murder:

He had frequently told people of his hatred of gypsies, and how he'd like to kill them. (the burglars were gypsies)

After shooting them, he left the scene, hid the shotgun at his mother's house, then checked in to a hotel for the night. He didn't inform the police.

When questioned by the police, he lied about the events. He claimed to have fired from the top of the stairs. Ballistics evidence showed he come down stairs, chased after the burglars, and shot them in the back as they ran away.

Martin is often held up as the poster boy for self defence, but what he did doesn't fit under the category of self defence. He decided to punish burglars by killing them, which is a different thing altogether.



Martin was released after serving 3 years. His original life sentence for murder had been reduced to 5 years for manslaughter.

Ah. Those details make the story a bit different. In that case, I would actually have to agree with the verdict.