Bravery awards for have-a-go sisters

AN HEROIC Rotherham woman and her courageous sister have been given awards for extreme bravery after they tackled a thug battering a man with a glass bottle.

Joanne Fox (27) and Louise Kemp (24) were out on Louise’s hen night in Harrogate when they came across the savage attack in Harrogate town centre.

The victim was being harangued by two men, one of whom struck him in the head with a bottle, and was left with a split head which oozed blood.

Without a moment’s thought for their own safety, the sisters put themselves in harm’s way in an attempt to stop the assault. Louise, whose hen night was marred by the violence, struck one attacker while Joanne, of Maltby, pulled him off the victim.

Having broken up the attack, they called police and the emergency services.

The sisters’ heroic actions led to the attacker’s arrest and the main attacker, David Paul Russell of Spofforth, near Wetherby, was given an 18-month community punishment at York Crown Court.

At the court hearing, Judge Paul Batty QC, the Recorder of York, praised the two women, who were each awarded a special commendation for their outstanding acts of courage.

The incident happened in the early hours of October 9 last year near Harrogate Bus Station.

Mr Batty said the sisters “gave valuable evidence to police in witness statements and picked (the attacker) out in an ID parade”.

He added: “So many people would have walked away in an incident like that, but these two sisters didn’t and they are deserving of the highest praise.”