Have-a-go-hero chases off machete-wielding robber with a plank of wood

This is the moment a have-a-go-hero sent a machete-wielding burglar running armed only with a plank of wood.

CCTV footage showed a Good Samaritan chasing Haiwa Ezzeddine Mohammed, 35, at an industrial estate in Handsworth, Birmingham.

The man, who police have not named, arrived for work on July 25, 2019 and bumped into Mohammed as he used a fence post to smash open a safe.

Mohammed attempted to scare off the worker after grabbing a machete from his white Mercedes getaway car and running towards him, swinging the blade.

But the fearless man stood his ground and took on the knifeman with a piece of wood he picked up from the floor.

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The security camera footage shows Mohammed backing away and then running off empty-handed before the man called police to report the group.

Officers traced Mohammed’s car and arrested him at his home in Tipton, West Midlands seven days later.

A search of the vehicle uncovered tools used in the burglary plus cash and Viagra tablets also stolen from a shop.

Mohammed’s phone was also found to contain a video he took of his 32-year-old accomplice, who was previously jailed for 40 months, breaking into the stolen safe.

West Midlands Police also found the trainers he was seen wearing in the CCTV at his home.

Mohammed denied burglary, going equipped for burglary and making threats with a bladed article but was found guilty following a four-day trial.

He was jailed for four years at at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday.

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Mohammed had been part of a gang that had earlier broken into a Birmingham city centre convenience store having cut through the ceiling.

They fled with £15,000 worth of cigarettes, cash and the security box before Mohammed tried to break open the safe at the unit in the industrial park.

The courageous worker has now been nominated for a bravery award by the force.

PC Mat Evans, from Birmingham Police, said: “He showed incredible bravery in being able to fend off the gang, and ended up chasing them all off despite being outnumbered and facing a terrifying weapon.

“We are nominating him for a police bravery award.

"Not only did he demonstrate incredible bravery in defending himself, but his evidence was vital to pulling the whole case together to secure a conviction against a violent crook.”