Hero threw beer glasses in bid to thwart gang
A LONdONER risked his life to pelt the three terrorists with beer bottles and glasses in a bid to lure them away from crowded bars and restaurants.
Gerard Vowls, 47, played a high-risk game of cat and mouse with the jihadists, goading them and hurling missiles to distract them.
Avoiding their furious lunges, he screamed warnings at diners and drinkers, allowing business owners to shut out the killers.
Mr Vowls had been enjoying a quiet Saturday night pint by London Bridge when the violence unfolded. He first noticed something terrible had occurred when he saw three men standing like ‘a pack of animals’ over a woman they seemed to have knocked off a bicycle.
‘I think they had knocked her off a Boris bike. They were standing over her, all stabbing her maybe 15 or 20 times,’ he said. ‘She was crying out “Help me, help me” but I couldn’t get close. They had long knives like you get to cut kebabs.’
Mr Vowls said the victim was white with blonde hair, aged about 35 and wearing glasses. ‘They ran after me but couldn’t catch me, so they went back to stab the girl a couple more times. When they stabbed her, one shouted “This is for Allah”,’ he added.
‘They went up towards Borough Market. I saw a man standing nearby and I started shouting “Run run run, there are terrorists, go go go!” But they were already there and they stabbed him too.
‘I saw a doorman at one of the pubs – I think the Southwark Tavern – had been stabbed as well, he was on the floor.’
‘I saw them trying to force their way into restaurants, and I was just trying to warn people, shouting, “Terrorist cowards!”. They came towards me again and I threw a stool at them. As this was happening the police were just driving by. They were driving to where the van had crashed.
‘So I picked up bottles, pint glasses and stools. I was chucking everything at them, and shouting to warn people. I thought if I could just get them to follow me, I could get them to the main road so the police would shoot them.
‘The men went into the restaurant Black & Blue, where they stabbed a couple. They stabbed the man in the stomach. I heard them both groan.
‘I ran towards the bridge to get the police but just as I was running back with them I heard three bangs – all of them had been shot.
‘I knew they didn’t have real bombs, as I could see they were held together with duct tape instead of wires. They were just wearing normal clothes, with Muslim-style beards. They looked like they had no fear. They knew exactly what they were doing. They were trying to kill as many people as they could.
‘They looked like they were on another planet. Their eyes looked evil, an aggressive angry look. I was shouting “Oi, terrorists, cowards” to try and distract them.
‘I just wanted to help save some lives. I am not a hero, just a normal guy. People have got to know what they did – the families of the victims should know.’
Student nurse Rhiannon Owen told how a passing taxi driver saved her life by telling her to run for it as the knife-wielding terrorists approached. The 19-year-old from Nantwich, Cheshire, said: ‘He swerved towards me and screamed, “Please run, you’ve got to run now, get back, get back”.
‘I turned around and saw this man with this huge blade and I just ran as fast as I could to the nearest pub.’
Even as the horror was unfolding, ordinary Londoners were rushing to offer help to those caught up in it. Residents took to social media offering a spare bed to anyone with nowhere to stay, while taxi drivers gave free rides.
One pub gave sanctuary to 150 people. And one diner, who had to evacuate a restaurant in the middle of his meal, returned yesterday to thank staff and pay his bill.
‘They stabbed a couple. I heard them both groan’