A former British Army soldier who has now become a children’s instructor claims he is now unemployed after being sacked for pursuing a possible shoplifter while watching after a ten-year-old youngster.
When Mark K, an army veteran who served from 2007 to 2012, observed the burglar sprinting along London’s Hampstead High Street with a backpack full of goods taken from upscale apparel retailer Reiss, he immediately acted.
The army veteran is seen catching hold of the suspected thief as he attempts to cross the street in CCTV video from the health food store Planet Organic, where the confrontation occurred.
While Mark maintains his arms tightly wrapped around the intruder, a Reiss store worker can be seen scuffling with the attacker, who is sporting black sweatshirt and blue trousers.
After a brief conversation, Mark releases the alleged shoplifter, who then picks up something from the ground and hurl it at the two as they leave.
After following the ‘agitated’ shoplifter down the street, Mark claims he caught him with a ‘bear hug’ because he thought the guy posed a danger to the public.
The instructor said that he immediately drove the ten-year-old home, where he told his mother what had transpired.
He said that at first, she was “OK” with the circumstance and made light of it, but a few days later, he got a “devastating” call from the family’s personal assistant quitting his job.
She handled it well. The 32-year-old said, “She made no inquiries and just laughed a little bit about it.
“I was finally informed that there was an issue a few days later, in the dark, and then I was immediately let go.”
Mark claims that he behaved in the child’s best interests and that the result has left him feeling “gutted.”
He indicated that the getaway driver ran the chance of being involved in a “fatal” collision. As soon as Mark and I entered the Reiss door, the robber and the employee who was following him both emerged.
The burglar avoided me and the kid. It everything occurred very quickly. He was walking down the street at the time.
‘On the road, there was nowhere for him to cross.
There were stores on one side and a wall on the other, so there may have been a tragic collision with approaching vehicles.
Mark, a former soldier who served in Afghanistan on two separate occasions, instructed the youngster to remain where he was while he pursued the thief.
I believed that stopping the thief would be the best course of action since the store employee would collect the items and wouldn’t pose a further danger.
I quickly surveyed the area to make sure there were no new dangers. Everything occurred really rapidly.
The now-tutor from Yorkshire stated that when he pursued and detained the guy, he maintained the youngster he was watching over in his line of sight.
“I wasn’t sure what was going on when the robber walked by me, but then it became obvious to me that something wasn’t right,” he added.
He was highly upset, aggressive, and verbally rude. He was a menace to me, I thought.
“I was worried about the child’s safety and the security of the broader public.”
“If he had turned around, he could have just attacked the shopkeeper, putting him much closer to the youngster.”
I wished he had been as far away from it as I could have.
In addition to leaving Mark with a bruised forearm, the robber also stomped on Mark’s foot, which the criminal fractured in October 2020 but has only lately begun to mend.
The safety of the kid was his first concern, he said, so I didn’t even try to corner him.
“I felt like I was in a pretty unfortunate circumstance because I didn’t ask for any of it and I did what I believed was the right thing and I was fired for it,” the speaker said.
The instructor alleges he was fired without receiving any notice or severance compensation.
He then set up a GoFundMe campaign, which has helped gather £6,595 for his recuperation and living costs.
The circumstance wasn’t anything I anticipated or planned for, he continued.
It just occurred, so I thought I’d try to gather money by posting a campaign online.
Mark claims that the loss of his employment has occurred at the worst possible moment since he usually educates children from wealthy foreign families who reside in London, and because Covid and the conflict in Ukraine have made it difficult to get work.
I’m hoping I’ll be able to find anything soon, he remarked. Although I regret what occurred, I’m also relieved that everyone is well.
The complaint of an attack on Hampstead High St. was received, according to the police.
According to a Met spokeswoman, “police were contacted at 11:04 on August 1 to complaints of an attack that occurred at a business in Hampstead High Street, NW3.”
“On Tuesday, July 26, the incident took place when the victim, who was in his 30s, was restraining a potential shoplifter.
“There have been no arrests made. Investigations continue.