All it took was one man who was prepared to stand up and be counted.
As two masked robbers smashed a jeweller's window with sledgehammers, 84-year-old William Grove stepped out from the crowd which had stopped to watch but dared not intervene.
Mr Grove, proudly wearing a poppy on his lapel, walked up to the robbers as they pounded the reinforced windows.
He then grabbed one of them by the shoulder and pulled the balaclava from his face.
The pair were so alarmed that one of them had been unmasked that they fled to a waiting silver car and sped off.
Then, with a modesty rarely seen these days, the 6ft 3in pensioner explained to police arriving at the scene that he couldn't stop as he had to dash to an appointment.
With that, he handed them his business card, hopped on a bus and was gone.
Nick Thompson, a 35-year-old IT technician who saw the pensioner single-handedly foil the raid from his office opposite the jeweller's, said: 'I thought it was brilliant that someone in this day and age can still have the guts to take on someone much younger and bigger.
'Heroes like that don't think twice about these things.
'There must have been about 40 or 50 people watching but he was the only who thought, "Hang on a minute, I'm not putting up this". We were all amazed he had the guts to do it.'
Police, who believe the robbers may have got away with just one watch, are hunting two black men aged between 18 and 20 and the driver of the getaway car.
They have already interviewed Mr Grove, a former civil servant, who is said to have smiled to the crowd after his dramatic intervention on Thursday lunchtime at Ernest Jones in Richmond, South-West London.
'He gave this great little smile and then walked to catch his bus,' said Mr Thompson. 'He must have known it was about to come and didn't want to miss it.'
Another witness, Ed Hardman, described the moment the robber was unmasked.
He said: 'The robber looked really confused and didn't know what to do, but yelled to his mates, put his hood up and ran off. The old guy was a bit of a hero because no one else wanted to take on these two guys with huge sledgehammers.'
Mr Thompson's brother Murray, who also witnessed the robbery, said: 'I'm put to shame by what an 80-year-old did.' continues here
As two masked robbers smashed a jeweller's window with sledgehammers, 84-year-old William Grove stepped out from the crowd which had stopped to watch but dared not intervene.
Mr Grove, proudly wearing a poppy on his lapel, walked up to the robbers as they pounded the reinforced windows.
He then grabbed one of them by the shoulder and pulled the balaclava from his face.
The pair were so alarmed that one of them had been unmasked that they fled to a waiting silver car and sped off.
Then, with a modesty rarely seen these days, the 6ft 3in pensioner explained to police arriving at the scene that he couldn't stop as he had to dash to an appointment.
With that, he handed them his business card, hopped on a bus and was gone.
Nick Thompson, a 35-year-old IT technician who saw the pensioner single-handedly foil the raid from his office opposite the jeweller's, said: 'I thought it was brilliant that someone in this day and age can still have the guts to take on someone much younger and bigger.
'Heroes like that don't think twice about these things.
'There must have been about 40 or 50 people watching but he was the only who thought, "Hang on a minute, I'm not putting up this". We were all amazed he had the guts to do it.'
Police, who believe the robbers may have got away with just one watch, are hunting two black men aged between 18 and 20 and the driver of the getaway car.
They have already interviewed Mr Grove, a former civil servant, who is said to have smiled to the crowd after his dramatic intervention on Thursday lunchtime at Ernest Jones in Richmond, South-West London.
'He gave this great little smile and then walked to catch his bus,' said Mr Thompson. 'He must have known it was about to come and didn't want to miss it.'
Another witness, Ed Hardman, described the moment the robber was unmasked.
He said: 'The robber looked really confused and didn't know what to do, but yelled to his mates, put his hood up and ran off. The old guy was a bit of a hero because no one else wanted to take on these two guys with huge sledgehammers.'
Mr Thompson's brother Murray, who also witnessed the robbery, said: 'I'm put to shame by what an 80-year-old did.' continues here
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