Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Have-a-go hero tackles violent man outside pub
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A man who ripped a pub door from its hinges after he was refused a drink was tackled to the ground by a rugby-playing have-a-go-hero.
Simon Crossley, who plays for the Canterbury Rugby Club fourth team, was inside the Old City Bar in Oaten Hill at 8pm on Friday and tackled the man when he began hurling bin bags of rubbish at the windows.
Stunned drinkers watched as the man exploded with rage after being refused a drink.
He thumped and kicked the bar and smashed the front door repeatedly before tearing it from its hinges.
The man then went outside and threw bags full of rubbish at the windows, smashing three.
Mr Crossley was outside the pub and says that when the man turned his back briefly, he decided to take action.
The 42-year-old dad from Dover Street told the Gazette: “The reason I went outside was because I thought the bloke was going to assault a friend of mine who was calling the police.
“He had been kicking a bike and a car out there and then he turned his back, which is when I went in with the rugby tackle.
“A number of us from the pub held him down, but then he bit my friend’s arm so I had to apply a bit more pressure to his head to get him to release.”
Drinkers from the pub helped Mr Crossley pin the man to the ground until police arrived.
As they moved him from the road to the police car, the man struggled and lashed out, trying to kick a police car before being bundled into a van.
The man bitten received hospital treatment for a deep wound.
Mr Crossley, who went to the King’s School and works as an events manager, added: “I did what I did because I live in this street and this is a really nice community pub.
“I sometimes bring my children to the pub and they’ve sat directly under the windows, which were broken.
“There was a couple watching the Wales v Belgium game and they asked if this sort of thing happened a lot.
“Absolutely not. I’ve never seen anything like this in the Old City or in Canterbury – and I hope I never see it again.”
Police arrested a 29-year-old man from Canterbury on suspicion of criminal damage and assault following the incident at 8pm on Friday.
He has been bailed until August 7 while inquiries continue.