Brave Horsham reverend awarded for stopping fight in town centre cafe

Reverend Kath Jones described how one man was attacking the others with a chair during the fight on the afternoon of May 1 this year.

In light of her incredible courage, she was awarded the Chief Constable’s Commendation Award at the Sussex Police West Sussex Divisional Awards on Monday (July 20), which was presented by Assistant Chief Constable Steve Barry.

The ceremony heard how Rev Jones ‘put herself between the men and pushed them apart’.

Speaking after the awards, Rev Jones, methodist minister at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Roffey and Southwater Community Methodist Church, said despite putting herself in danger, she was not scared.

“You don’t think you’re doing anything special when you do it.

“I was just angry that it was happening in front of me and no-one was doing anything. I felt someone had to do something.

“A lady asked the key perpetrator to calm his language down but he picked up a chair in the cafe and started smashing the other guys over the head with it.

“He put a man on the floor and there were flying kicks going past my head.

“He said to me ‘get out of my face. It’s got nothing to do with you’. I said it had everything to do with me because I live here - it was on my door step.

“A man came up to me afterwards and said that was the bravest thing he’d ever seen. Another couple of ladies actually thought it was all staged, they couldn’t believe it was real because it is not normal to see that kind of thing in Horsham.”

The awards, held in Arundel Castle, gave thanks to police officers, PCSOs, volunteers and members of the community who have saved countless lives, averted disasters and put dangerous criminals behind bars - all while putting their own lives at risk.

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