Praise for hero bin man who tackled knife-wielding criminal

6:55pm Friday 8th August 2008

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A hero bin man who leaped from his lorry and shoulder-barged an knife-wielding criminal to the ground was commended on Wednesday.

Bill Cody, 31, of Wandsworth, who has worked for Sutton Council’s waste department for the last ten years, spotted the man fleeing from police in Stafford Road, Wallington in January while he waited with his crew mates at traffic lights.

“When I saw him running from police, I just thought ‘I can catch him’ and I jumped out to help."

Bill Cody

In a split second he made the decision to jump from his vehicle and chase the man, eventually knocking him to the pavement and allowing armed police to catch up with him.

He said: “When I saw him running from police, I just thought ‘I can catch him’ and I jumped out to help.

“Then when I held him to the ground I saw he had a 10 inch knife, but luckily the police were soon there with their tasers and took control of the situation.

“If it happened again I would do exactly the same thing."

In a letter to Mr Cody, the Sutton police Superintendent Chas Bailey, called his actions “an excellent example of how valuable the assistance of members of the public is to police officer."

He was awarded the commendation by the Mayor of Sutton Dr Brendan Hudson.