A have-a-go-hero gran who caught an intruder in the backyard of her beauty salon managed to hold him hostage until police arrived using a MOP HANDLE.
Sharon Johnson, 56, managed to bravely detain the suspect with the makeshift weapon after spotting him lurking near her business premises on Monday (15/4).
The 5ft 1in tall grandmother-of-three was alerted to man acting suspiciously at the rear of the Eden beauty salon by a neighbour in Meir, Stoke-on-Trent.
After driving to the scene, she armed herself when a mop handle she found in her boot and confronted the man in the back yard just after midnight.
She then courageously frogmarched the shocked suspect into the shop and locked the doors before dialing 999.
Police arrived at the scene and arrested a 30-year-old man on suspicion of being found on an enclosed premises.
Mum-of-two Sharon, of Adderley Green, Staffs., said: “I’m no hero. I just acted on instinct and wanted to protect the business.
“I had been in bed when I received a text message from a neighbour saying there was somebody in my backyard.
“I drove to the shop but thought I better find something to protect myself with because we’ve had a few problems in the area with drugs and things like that.
“There was a mop stale I’d taken home earlier in the week to put in the bin but I hadn’t got round to it, so I thought that would do the trick.
“I was a bit apprehensive but this is the fourth time we’ve been broken into within the last few months and I wasn’t having it happen again.
“I couldn’t see anything but as I went to check the yard for a second time I opened the back door and there was this man standing there.
“I had the mop in my hand and the only thing I could think of doing was pointing it at him like some lethal weapon.
“He was cowering in the yard because I think he expected it to be the police, not a 5ft woman armed with a mop.
“I told the man, who was clearly on something, go into the shop and told him to stay there. I was pretty angry and adrenaline just took over.
“I then realised that I was locked in with him and had no way of getting out of there. Luckily he didn’t seem like the violent sort, so I tried to maintain my nerve.
“I rang the police and they stayed on the phone to me before they arrived after eight minutes or so. Every time the man moved I held him at bay with my mop handle.
“It felt like a very long time and it was a pretty terrifying experience to say the least.
“I showed no weakness. If I did he might have sensed it and it could have turned out much worse.
“It was fight or flight and I chose to stay and fight. But I don’t think I’m brave. It was just pure adrenaline.”
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: “We were called to a report of an intruder at the Eden House Beauty Salon on Weston Road at around 12.30am on April 15.
“A 30-year-old man from Stoke-on-Trent was arrested at the scene on suspicion of being found on enclosed premises, but was subsequently released no further action.”