Mansfield martial arts experts take down 'brick throwing vandals'

Martial arts experts from Mansfield abandoned a class to tackle vandals who were throwing bricks at their cars.
By Andrew Topping
Published 5th Jun 2019, 18:45 BST
The two men, detained at the scene. Image: Shane Mills.The two men, detained at the scene. Image: Shane Mills.
The two men, detained at the scene. Image: Shane Mills.

Members of the MPIRE Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club were taking part in a class on Kirkland Avenue when they were told there was men breaking into cars outside and throwing bricks.

The martial artists went to see what was going on before realising that the men in question had fled the scene.

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A group of them, including an off-duty police officer, attempted to chase the men after one noticed his car had been damaged.

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The two men, detained at the scene. Image: Shane Mills.The two men, detained at the scene. Image: Shane Mills.
The two men, detained at the scene. Image: Shane Mills.

The men then found the suspects on nearby Jenford Street and detained them using their jiu-jitsu skills.

Shane Mills, aged 36, MPIRE owner and head coach, said: "I was taking the class when someone came in to tell us there was men in the car park throwing bricks and trying to break into our cars.

"Everyone came outside but they had gone by the time we got out there.

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"Three of my guys, one who was an off-duty police officer and one whose car had been smashed, had a drive to try and catch up with them. "

The jiu-jitsu trainees pictured following the incident, Image: Shane Mills.The jiu-jitsu trainees pictured following the incident, Image: Shane Mills.
The jiu-jitsu trainees pictured following the incident, Image: Shane Mills.

The three men found the vandals attempting to break into another car before tackling them and calling the police.

Shane said: "To top it off they found them at another house breaking into a car, but they didn't realise that the woman who was affected was a member of our group on Facebook.

"They used skills they had learned in my classes including take downs and headlocks to hold them down before the off-duty officer called the police."

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Shane added that he finds the incident funny when thinking about his group exiting the jiu-jitsu class in their full gear, describing it as "like something from a martial arts movie".

He said: "Looking at it now it's quite humorous thinking about a group of jiu-jitsu trainees storming from the building in our gear, it's like something out of a 1980s martial arts movie.

"I think it's good for the community to see that vandals don't always get away with it."

Two men from Mansfield were arrested in connection with the incident, which happened at about 9pm on Monday, May 20.

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David Harris, 32, of Farmilo Crescent, and Lee Hodgkinson, 30, of Elton Close, are due to appear at Mansfield Magistrates' Court next month.

The jiu-jitsu classes run at the old Intake Centre, on Kirkfield Avenue, from 7pm until 9pm on Mondays and Wednesdays.