Judge praises pensioner for bashing shotgun-wielding robber with iceberg lettuce

A judge praised a pensioner who foiled a gun-toting robber by battering him with an iceberg lettuce. George Smith, who is in his 80s, chased thug William Hayton out of a post office, swinging his plastic shopping bag containing the lettuce, a bottle of bleach and washing up liquid.



Despite having a sawn-off shotgun pointed at him, brave Mr Smith repeatedly hit Hayton round the head and ran him out of the store. Hayton, 48, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, had carried out a string of armed raids, including at a newsagents in Bexhill and a petrol station in Horam, near Heathfield, before he was stopped in Speldhurst, Kent. He was jailed for nine years at Lewes Crown Court.

Judge Richard Brown said: “Because of the cool, brave manner in which Mr Smith acted on that occasion I am commending him to the High Sheriff of Kent and ordering that he be given £500 from public funds.” Mr Smithsaid: “I am just glad he is in prison for a long time. I wasn’t scared. Why should I be scared of a man like that?”



Detective Constable Ian Dearling of Sussex Police said: “I would like to commend Mr Smith for his bravery in stepping in and confronting Hayton at the post office. However, I would not recommend confronting armed robbers as it could be extremely dangerous. It is a spur of the moment decision that people can only make for themselves.”