While travelling through crowded Piccadilly to a morning business meeting, Whitwam noticed three men acting suspiciously, crowding around a cash machine as an innocent member of the public attempted to withdraw money.
The men were behaving oddly, whispering and signalling to each other while attempting to see the amount of money being withdrawn.
In an attempt at a distraction robbery, the men pointed to a folded bank note they had dropped on the pavement and, as the victim bent down to retrieve the note, another member of the gang reached forward and grabbed the debit card from the reader.
Alert to an attempted robbery
Whitwam immediately alerted the victim by shouting “You’re being robbed”, and attempted to apprehend one of the suspects. Startled by this quick intervention the gang members ran off, and the victim gave chase.
John noticed the cash left behind and ran after the group, ensuring its safe return to the victim. The police arrived at the scene and arrested one of the gang members.
As a key witness in the prosecution case, Whitwam gave testimony at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The individual that committed the offence was sentenced to 28 days’ imprisonment.
Whitwam asserted: “It’s outrageous that criminal gangs think they can commit thefts in broad daylight. This case really emphasises the importance of people remaining vigilant even when using cash points in well-lit, busy urban areas.”
Praise from G4S colleagues
Doug Hewitson – the group managing director at G4S Security Services (UK) – added: “John demonstrated immense courage in tackling a gang of criminals. Like his team of former British Army Gurkhas, he has a great sense of civic pride and duty. He leads from the front in the business arena. John’s tenacity and bravery are an inspiration for all the employees of G4S Gurkha Services.”
G4S has built a guarding and security services business on the strengths of the British Army’s elite Gurkha soldiers. Formed in 2007, G4S Gurkha Services provides managed teams of Gurkha officers for a range of high-end and critical security locations and tasks, including pre-deployment training for the British Army and protection of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).