A man used his Kung Fu moves when he he stepped in to stop a woman being attacked on a train.
Tony Pinkerton, 60, was on a train on his way home from martial arts training in Newcastle city centre at around 9pm on March 8.
Tony noticed a man following a woman and begin to attack her, so the have-a-go hero tried to calm the situation but it soon became apparent he would have to use his Kung Fu skills for the first time outside of practice, reports Chronicle Live.
Tony explained: "This young guy started to get really aggressive. The vein in his neck was sticking out, his face was going red.
"The woman was screaming down the phone to the police. He lunged at her and kicked her and I stood up and got in between the pair of them. He said, 'Don't be getting involved old man because I will smack you out'.
"I said, 'You're not going to be punching anybody else today and if you do go for me, you're going to get a fright.'"
The man moved his arm back to throw a punch, But Tony blocked it and prevented him from kicking the woman, who was on the phone to the police throughout the ordeal. Soon the thug realised Tony was not a man to be messed with and made a sharp exit.
"I used some of my Kung Fu moves," Tony said. "When he went to kick her, I stopped that and then he went to swing for me and I blocked that.
"He seemed surprised that I had intervened and began pressing the buttons on the doors to get off at North Shields. I told the woman to stay on the phone to the police because he was going to be leaving in a minute."
The man got off and Tony resumed his journey to Tynemouth where the woman also disembarked.
"I'm not Mr Tough Guy - I just thought how would I have felt if she had been badly injured and I did nothing," he said. "I felt I had to do something."
Tony complained about a lack of safety on the Metro trains in Newcastle and said he did not blame the other passengers for not wanting to get involved.
"Everybody put their heads down. No one wanted to get involved - and I don't blame them," he said. "It's a crazy situation and I think they [Metro bosses] have lost control over what is going on on the Metro."
He added: "I see 11-year-olds vaping, kids running across the track, smoking on the Metro, people spitting at each other. It is not a pleasant experience on the Metro and it should be."
Nexus run the Metro rail system in Newcastle and their operations director, Kevin Storey, says that they work with local cops to target such anti-social behaviour. He also said Nexus has its own security team that patrol trains day and night.
“This was a disturbance that spilled over onto a Metro train," he said.
“If anyone witnesses a crime on our network then they should call the police. If you see something and are concerned about getting involved then you should notify the Metro driver, or discreetly alert our control room using a mobile phone via the text alert system on 0191 202 3666.
“We are determined to ensure that Metro is safe and secure for our customers and staff. This is our top priority.
“Nexus works closely with the Northumbria force to target anti-social behaviour hot spots and fare evasion. We have our own dedicated security officers on the network in addition to our customer support teams who patrol across the day and in the evenings too.
“Annually Nexus already spends £1.2m on a dedicated police unit for Metro, and we have put a further £1.2m into our dedicated security team. We have invested £4m in improved CCTV and issued body-worn cameras to our frontline staff.
“Northumbria Police is also running Operation Maple in North Tyneside, which will see more officers on Metro, this will involve high visibility patrols and more officers on board the trains in plain clothes.”
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