Protester rescued at rally is ex detective
THE image of a ‘superhero’ father rescuing a protester during London race violence last week went viral around the world.
Now it has emerged that father-of-three Bryn Male, 55, who was carried to safety by Patrick Hutchinson, 49, after being hurt in a brawl, is an ex-policeman who allegedly abused Black Lives Matter activists.
Yesterday witnesses said the former detective constable was drunk and the fight erupted as he told protesters: ‘***k Black Lives Matter.’ Mr Male, of Basingstoke, Hampshire, was among thousands thronging London on Saturday to ‘defend’ statues.
Some far-Right thugs attacked police and made Nazi salutes and monkey gestures at anti-racism protesters. Rival activists then began looking for revenge.
Mr Male, wearing a Millwall football shirt and said to be swaying, was confronted near Waterloo Station and was heard making his provocative comment. He was slapped, he fell over, then was picked up and helped by a 26-yearold musicican known as Tichmatic. But someone else sent Mr Male flying with a kick.
Tichmatic, who attended the protests to prevent violence from erupting, said: ‘I grabbed him, picked him up and said, “You need to get up and go, right now.” He kept saying, “Why are they doing this, why are they doing this?”’
Pictures show Tichmatic escorting Mr Male down a set of stairs on London’s South Bank when a member of the mob sends the former police officer hurtling by kicking him in the back.
The musician, who said that the Millwall supporter ‘stunk of alcohol’ and claimed to have had a chain stolen, could be seen grabbing his head to provide protection as the crowd tried to attack him. ‘People were trying to kick and slap him,’ said Tichmatic ‘The crowd was just too heavy on me and I couldn’t breathe.
‘At this point Patrick came through the crowd.’
Mr Male, who lives in Basingstoke, Hampshire, with his second wife Karen and son Harry, worked in the London area for British Transport Police as a detective constable before retiring in September 2014, the force confirmed.
A source told The Sun: ‘Bryn should learn from this. He needs to grow up. This should be a wake-up call. He’s in his 50s and I’m not sure why he’s getting involved in stuff like this.’
A source said that Male once worked as an undercover officer for BTP, which involved investigating football hooligan networks. They said: ‘I did not like him. He was just very, very old-school in his opinions and how he sees the world.’
Harry, 21, said his father had been left with a black eye following the incident and ‘probably would’ like to thank his rescuers.
But Mr Hutchinson yesterday
‘This should be a wake-up call’
said that he was not interested in sharing a stage with the man he assisted.
Asked what he would say to Mr Male, he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘It’s not something I really focus on.
‘The most important thing is that he is still alive.
‘I don’t have much to say to him or anything to say to him. I would be more interested in what he has to say to me or any of my friends.’
Mr Male could not be reached for comment yesterday.