Tom Hardy a have-a-go hero? Hardly, says woman who insists SHE nabbed moped thief
THE story could have come straight out of a Hollywood action movie – with actor Tom Hardy as the real-life hero.
But reports of how the star raced through gardens and a building site to catch a moped thief have been thrown into doubt after a woman came forward to insist she was the one who nabbed the suspect.
And she claims Hardy was not even on the scene.
‘It’s pretty shabby,’ said Carly Holder, a 35-year-old engineer. ‘It was me who chased the boy and hauled him back to the scene. I’m not seeking plaudits, but I would like Hardy to admit it wasn’t him.’
The story unfolded last Sunday lunchtime as Ms Holder was having a drink with her partner at The Red Cow in Richmond, South-West London.
Two 16-year-old youths on a moped ran through a red light and smashed into an Audi TT, with the pillion passenger fleeing the scene. It was widely claimed that Taboo and Dark Knight Rises star Hardy, who lives nearby, gave chase – a story of heroism that even made him favourite to be the next James Bond.
As reports of his derring-do grew, Hardy’s representatives remained silent, while police confirmed only that ‘a member of the public’ had assisted.
But Ms Holder said: ‘No one who was there saw Hardy. I made the arrest. The police spoke to me afterwards and thanked me for it.’
She said she was drinking outside the pub when she saw the moped run a red light and smash into the car, causing both teens to ‘catapult 4ft into the air’. Two police cars happened to be nearby.
Ms Holder added: ‘One of the boys from the moped ran off down an alleyway. I didn’t stop to think, I just ran after him yelling, “Stop!”
‘Looking back, it sounds rash. For all I knew he may have had a knife or a gun. But my instinct was to give chase.
‘After about 150 yards, I lunged at him and grabbed his collar. He was screaming and struggling but I was behind him and I just wasn’t giving up.’
Ms Holder said she marched the teenager back to the pub, where one of the police officers asked her to hang on to him while they dealt with the other moped rider, who was on the ground with a broken leg. Police arrested both 16-year-olds on suspicion of theft of the moped.
Ms Holder said: ‘Tom Hardy should come clean and admit it was me, not him. It’s rather galling he might become James Bond because of it.’
Last week, Hardy was in Manchester filming BBC2’s Peaky Blinders. The Mail on Sunday contacted his representatives, but they failed to comment.