Thousands of pounds have been raised for a bus driver who lost his job after he heroically chased down a thief to return a passenger’s stolen necklace.
A tribunal heard Mark Hehir, 62, a bus driver in north-west London, was sacked from his job after he chased down a thief who stole a passenger’s necklace.
After successfully catching the thief and returning the necklace to the passenger, the thief then attempted to punch Mr Hehir before the bus driver retaliated and knocked them unconscious.
However, despite being called a “hero” for his actions, Metroline sacked Mr Hehir from his job and subsequently an employment tribunal upheld that decision.
Now a GoFundMe page has so far raised more than £4,500 in support of Mr Hehir, and an online petition for his job to be reinstated has received over 7,000 signatures.
Mr Hehir told the Metro: “I’m not a guy who attacks people, but I will defend people in trouble, which has unfortunately proved to be my downfall.”
He also revealed that he volunteered for months in Ukraine after the Russian invasion of the country in 2022.
Henry Goff, 34, who works as a web developer and is behind the GoFundMe page, told the Press Association: “He’s a hero, he’s the kind of person that I think we all need to see and that we need more of.
“I thought there’s no way we could leave this as it is, society in some way has got to set this right, we need more people like him, not less.”
Mr Goff said the money raised “makes me so happy, I went to bed with a smile on my face, I woke up with a clearly bigger one.”
He continued: “I keep dreaming of the moment where this number gets even bigger, and I can go take him for a pint, a pint of Guinness probably. It makes me so happy, this is civil justice”.
Shadow Tory justice minister Kieran Mullan launched the online petition for Metroline to “reinstate or compensate” Mr Hehir’s job.
The MP said: “This is not justice. Mark Hehir stepped in to protect a passenger and recover her stolen property and for doing the right thing and putting himself in harm’s way, he lost his job.
“That is plainly wrong. Law abiding people should not be punished for standing up to thugs. This decision sends a deeply troubling message that those who do the right thing will not be supported.
“Most people would see his actions as an instinctive attempt to defend someone who had just been robbed. He should be reinstated immediately or compensated.”
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