Published: Monday, 5th May, 2008 12:00
Town of heroes
By Steve McElroy
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HERO: Christine Wylie receives her award from Deputy Chief Constable John Malcolm.
THREE Helensburgh heroes who helped bring criminals to justice were honoured for their bravery this week by the Chief Constable of Strathclyde.
And for one heroine who saved a pensioner from losing thousands of pounds to a conman, it was the THIRD time that she had prevented a similar fraud.
In a separate case, another woman and a man chased and stopped a thief who had stolen valuable jewellery from a house.
The local heroes were recognised by Strathclyde Police for their acts of bravery in the fight against crime at a prestigious awards ceremony held at Hampden Park, the home of Scotland’s national football team.
For the first time, the Force has nominated 22 people whose actions have resulted in the apprehension of several offenders.
Deputy Chief Constable John Malcolm honoured each of the nominees at the Chief Constables Heroes Reception for the assistance they have given to the force.
Honoured for her eagle-eyed and quick thinking action was teller Mrs Christine Wylie who was on duty within Helensburgh’s Royal Bank of Scotland branch on February 5 last year.
A 79-year-old customer attended to withdraw a considerable amount of cash from his account. Mrs Wylie questioned the customer as to the reason for the large withdrawal as she thought it was out of character.
The man revealed to her that the cash was required to pay for a repair to his roof and that the person carrying out the repair had brought him to the bank as they needed the money in order to finish the work.
Mrs Wylie immediately realised that this sounded like a ‘bogus workman’ scam and alerted her supervisor and the police. No cash was handed over to the conman.
Mrs Wylie 47, who has worked for the bank for eight years, told the Advertiser: “It was just instinct and I thought ‘this is not going to happen in my patch.’ The old man had asked for £4,000 in cash and I casually asked if he was going on holiday or buying a car but he said it was for roof repairs and that sent alarm bells ringing.
“He was quite nervous and then when he said that the workman was waiting outside in a van. I became really concerned. There is a CCTV camera outside the bank and I alerted the operator to film the van and the police traced its registration number.
“I was also really worried as he said his wife was at home and I had concerns that they might return but the police took care of the situation.
“It was lovely being at the presentation and meeting other people who had helped the police.”
The other incident was a housebreaking which happened on September 2 2006 at the home of a 73-year-old woman in Helensburgh. At that time the woman observed the suspect climb from a bedroom window and onto a flat roof from which he made his escape.
The woman shouted after the suspect and alerted a nearby witness Mrs Frances Hanmer who, along with Stephen Anderson, chased the suspect.
They caught and detained him until the arrival of the police at which time a full recovery of property was made.
Stolen property included items of jewellery which had great sentimental value to the woman, and valued in the region of £3,000.
Chief Constable Stephen House, Strathclyde Police, said: “All the nominees across the Force truly are local heroes. They all went beyond the call of duty. They were all particularly brave and public spirited in difficult situations.
“In today’s climate it is acknowledged that the nominees acted with courage and showed willingness to put their own personal safety at risk. “Without their intervention the detection and conviction of the suspects would have been greatly hindered.”
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