BOUNCER WHO TACKLED A SAW-WIELDING EX-SOLDIER
ABOUNCER run over by a saw-wielding ex-soldier who attacked drinkers at a city nightspot has spoken of his ordeal. Howard Young was doing paperwork in the back of Miss Jones bar in Cardiff when he got a call telling him there was an attacker at the front of the building.
The 48-year-old was expecting a man with a sword. But when he arrived outside he was confronted with builder Mark Burgess. The boozedup brickie was slashing wildly at revellers with an 18-inch tool he had retrieved from his van.
“We ran to the front door and brought the customers inside to get them out of the way,” Howard said.
“Then myself and my colleagues went out looking for this guy attacking people in the street.”
Howard and colleagues Oktay Alan and Gerald Dunn saw Burgess storming towards them. “It was frightening,” Howard said. He could see then Burgess was armed with a saw, not a sword.
“He attacked a couple of people and then he went to his vehicle,” Howard said. They tried to stop the thug driving off.
“My colleague opened the door of the van and I said ‘Get the keys, get the keys.’
“But he put his foot down and swerved out to the right and ran over me.” Howard was at the side of the van. “The driver’s door was open so it hit me,” he said. “I stayed on my feet but I travelled backward.
“My concern was trying to stop him leaving and getting him out of the vehicle. “It could have been much worse.” Burgess went on the rampage in Merthyr Road, Cardiff, on November 6, after spending the day of the Wales versus Australia autumn international drinking in the city centre.
The 35-year-old, of Washford Avenue, Llanrumney, then drove to Miss Jones, where he parked on double yellow lines.
He couldn’t get in because it was closing – so he threatened to “slash” and “stab” people.
One man suffered a wound to his arm that needed four stitches. His girlfriend was left with cut hands after trying to stop the assault.
“All we could think of was to protect who we could and get the saw off him,” Howard said.
A CCTV camera captured the incident that showed Burgess brandishing the weapon.
He denied dangerous driving after being arrested. A breath test showed he had 61 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the limit is 35.
“I’ll probably see him again because he lives in the same area as me,” Howard, from Rumney, Cardiff, said.
He felt Burgess had “got away with it” because he was spared jail.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Burgess had previous convictions for drink-driving, drunk and disorderly behaviour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He was given a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, after admitting drink-driving and making threats with an offensive weapon.
Burgess initially hit the headlines in December after spending £350 making a wooden shelter with a fire alarm, light, insulation and a lock for a couple living on the streets.