Yahoo News Brave pensioner fights off carjackers using spanners from B&Q
A brave pensioner fought off three carjackers by threatening them with a packing of spanners he had just bought.
Stephen Smith, 70, had visited B&Q in Thornbury, West Yorkshire last Tuesday (March 27) to buy a set of adjustable spanners to fix his bathroom sink.
But as he returned to his car, Stephen was pounced on by a group of young men.
He managed to shake off the three attackers and drove off – but realised the spanners were the wrong size when he returned home.
Stephen said: ‘I walked to my car and got in – as I was closing the door it was suddenly wrenched out of my hand.
‘At first I thought it was a security guard who might have thought I had taken the spanners without paying, because I was just carrying them in my hand.
‘I looked up and saw a young guy with a scarf across his face who tried to drag me out of the car.’
Despite the terrifying ordeal, Mr Smith claims that he didn’t panic – and immediately grabbed the pack of adjustable spanners.
Despite the terrifying moment when he realised he was the victim of an attempted carjacking Mr Smith didn’t panic.
‘I managed to fight him off, I think I punched him and shut the door, but another guy had jumped in the passenger seat and tried to reach and grab my keys out of my hand’, he said of the ordeal.
‘That’s when it dawned on me I still had the spanners in my hand, so I whacked him on the hand and then on the arm, and then I hit him in the chest and he shot out of the door.
‘I put the central locking on and drove away which is when I realised they were trying to steal my car.’
MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO
Father leaves daughters at service station and drives 100 miles before realising
Woman asked to prove she has terminal cancer three times to keep benefits
Ironically, the car didn’t even belong to Mr Smith – it was a Seat Leon courtesy car that he had borrowed while his own car was in for repairs after he slid and crashed into a lamppost in the snow last month.
Despite the ugly incident, he has no intention of shunning his favourite DIY store in future.
‘I’m not the kind of person who is just going to hand over their keys, and it won’t stop me using that store,’ he added.
‘They were built like matchsticks, I doubt any of them were over eight stone, but having said that you don’t know what they might be carrying, a dagger or acid or anything.’
Mr Smith, a former bus driver, has enjoyed a long career as a singer, and previously toured with 1980s pop legend Billy Ocean and supporting acts such as Judge Dread and Desmond Dekker.
‘It is definitely going to make me look around before I get in my car, and lock the doors straight away as soon as I get in, and if it makes other people do the same and keeps people safe then that’s a good lesson learned’, he said of his ordeal.
‘But, to make matters worse, when I got home I realised the spanners were still the wrong size!’
