Teenager wore feet to the bone chasing Darlington burglar

7:00am Monday 22nd October 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Neil Hunter

GAVE CHASE: Paul and Andrew Taylor pursued burglar John Kirk until Andrew's feet were bleeding GAVE CHASE: Paul and Andrew Taylor pursued burglar John Kirk until Andrew's feet were bleeding

A BRAVE teenager told last night (Sunday, October 21) how he wore his feet almost to the bone chasing a burglar for a mile without any shoes.

Andrew Taylor pursued the suspect bare-foot through the streets of Darlington to stop him escaping with two lap-tops.

The 18-year-old college student was so determined to catch the raider he did not realise how badly injured he was.

Andrew has since been on crutches for three months and has needed physiotherapy treatment to help him walk again.

His dad, Paul, said: “I don't know how he kept going. Both of his feet were shredded. They were like lumps of sirloin steak.”

Andrew added: “It was just adrenalin, really. I didn't even think about not having shoes on.

“My dad shouted for help to chase him, so I did. I had no idea about the state of my feet until my dad pointed it out.

“I looked down and couldn't believe it. That's when it started to hurt. I hobbled home and my dad continued the chase.”

The burglar, John Kirk was cornered at a shopping parade after a mile-and-a-half pursuit which lasted 15 minutes.

When he appeared at Teesside Crown Court on Friday, it emerged that the 43-year-old heroin addict has an astonishing 216 previous convictions.

Mr Taylor, a 56-year-old salesman, told The Northern Echo how he and his son became embroiled in the drama.

The father-of-three was chatting to a neighbour when Kirk ran past – followed soon after by the burglary victim.

The raider had struck at the house in Carmel Road North while the occupants were away for just half-an-hour.

The householder jumped in his taxi when he discovered the break-in, and trawled the streets looking for the suspect.

He cornered Kirk in Barrett Road but the raider shoved him out of the way and fled with the two computers in bags.

Mr Taylor said: “A man came running into the Close, and to all intents and purposes it looked like he was out jogging.

“But a few seconds later, a taxi came screeching up after him and I thought it was someone running away from a fare.

“The guy shouted 'he's robbed my house and stole my lap-top' so I gave chase with the driver and shouted my son to help.

“We chased him for about ten minutes and when Andrew flushed him out of a garden, I realised he had nothing on his feet.

“Andrew chased him so far but then started limping badly and I saw his feet. The soles were shredded, almost to the bone.”

The judge, Recorder Simon Phillips, QC, awarded Andrew, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, £250 from public funds.

He said: “He and his father showed tremendous public-spiritedness.

“He suffered very painful consequences from his well-intentioned involvement. He ran his foot, literally, to the bone.

“I direct the Taylors should be written a letter of commendation by way of a small token of appreciation of their civic duty.”

Kirk, of High Northgate, Darlington, denied burglary but was convicted after a trial and was jailed for four years.

He claimed he had been given the computer bags by the fleeing raider and simply ran off when he was challenged.

Unemployed Kirk had been freed from Holme House Prison shortly before the tea-time burglary on March 26 this year.

Comments(20)

doolieaj says...
10:34am Mon 22 Oct 12

brave? more like a stupid idoit, giving chase to a burglar who could have been armed? goods can be replaced lives cant, and yet again the national helth service pays for him to be sorted out!! theres only one good thing about this story and thats no one was seriously hurt. so your fet were ruined? tough luck, next time use a phone and let the police deal with it, that is afer all their job

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S208 says...
10:54am Mon 22 Oct 12

doolieaj wrote:
brave? more like a stupid idoit, giving chase to a burglar who could have been armed? goods can be replaced lives cant, and yet again the national helth service pays for him to be sorted out!! theres only one good thing about this story and thats no one was seriously hurt. so your fet were ruined? tough luck, next time use a phone and let the police deal with it, that is afer all their job
Yeah, good luck waiting for the police to show up for that one. An incident number would be as much as you'd get - meanwhile, someone's down a couple of laptops and probably more importantly the data that was on them. Good on this guy for giving chase - had the burglar been armed, he wasn't likely to leg it for 15 minutes was he?

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rhysb123 says...
11:51am Mon 22 Oct 12

right i was there so why arent i or my mates mentioned we chased him to

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Andrew94taylor says...
12:58pm Mon 22 Oct 12

Yes other people were involved we have never hidden this. But when it came to stand up and be counted by giving statements some people suddenly disappeared

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Andrew94taylor says...
1:11pm Mon 22 Oct 12

doolieaj wrote:
brave? more like a stupid idoit, giving chase to a burglar who could have been armed? goods can be replaced lives cant, and yet again the national helth service pays for him to be sorted out!! theres only one good thing about this story and thats no one was seriously hurt. so your fet were ruined? tough luck, next time use a phone and let the police deal with it, that is afer all their job
Hi. Thank you for your support it is people like you who are turning poour country into the don't care society we see so often. We reacted to a plea for help from a fellow human. Something we are brought up to acknowledge not ignore. Your comment on the NHS paying for treatment on the injuries is cheap and uncalled for. It is our duty to work with our police force to prevent crime not to ignore it because we don't get paid. It is clear from your comment you would have allowed a fellow citizen to be stabbed robbed and allow the perpetrator to escape in order to commit further crime. How much NHS funding do you put on a human life in your sad world.

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coops2404 says...
2:28pm Mon 22 Oct 12

Why are people calling Andrew an idiot for taking chase? He did what any straight-thinking adult would do! Ignore the haters mate, you did the best thing and should be remembered as a hero!

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Claypolerob says...
4:40pm Mon 22 Oct 12

I think Andrew did an incredibly brave and public spirited act. He should be congratulated and thanked by every right thinking person, not criticised. Get a life doolieaj.

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Lkaye12 says...
7:50pm Mon 22 Oct 12

It was my family that were the victims of this robbery and we are extremely grateful for all the Taylors did. Their action and that of the others that gave chase ensured this serial burglar is now back behind bars where he belongs. Kirk tried to sue my father for chasing him thats how crazy this country is.

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ilexuk says...
8:12pm Mon 22 Oct 12

hip hip array,
1 more darlo skum bag sent away,
216 previous convictions.?

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maclaren says...
9:06pm Mon 22 Oct 12

doolieaj wrote:
brave? more like a stupid idoit, giving chase to a burglar who could have been armed? goods can be replaced lives cant, and yet again the national helth service pays for him to be sorted out!! theres only one good thing about this story and thats no one was seriously hurt. so your fet were ruined? tough luck, next time use a phone and let the police deal with it, that is afer all their job
doolieaj or whatever you stupid name is you make me sick to the core you are no doubt one of those spineless cretins who look the other way if you saw a person being assaulted and needing help people like you are make me sick cretin cretin cretin cretin do you get the message

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mcjordiuk says...
9:14am Tue 23 Oct 12

well done that man..

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doolieaj says...
10:00am Tue 23 Oct 12

maclaren wrote:
doolieaj wrote:
brave? more like a stupid idoit, giving chase to a burglar who could have been armed? goods can be replaced lives cant, and yet again the national helth service pays for him to be sorted out!! theres only one good thing about this story and thats no one was seriously hurt. so your fet were ruined? tough luck, next time use a phone and let the police deal with it, that is afer all their job
doolieaj or whatever you stupid name is you make me sick to the core you are no doubt one of those spineless cretins who look the other way if you saw a person being assaulted and needing help people like you are make me sick cretin cretin cretin cretin do you get the message
ANYONE HEARD OF 999 MORONS

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Andrew94taylor says...
11:39am Tue 23 Oct 12

doolieaj wrote:
maclaren wrote:
doolieaj wrote:
brave? more like a stupid idoit, giving chase to a burglar who could have been armed? goods can be replaced lives cant, and yet again the national helth service pays for him to be sorted out!! theres only one good thing about this story and thats no one was seriously hurt. so your fet were ruined? tough luck, next time use a phone and let the police deal with it, that is afer all their job
doolieaj or whatever you stupid name is you make me sick to the core you are no doubt one of those spineless cretins who look the other way if you saw a person being assaulted and needing help people like you are make me sick cretin cretin cretin cretin do you get the message
ANYONE HEARD OF 999 MORONS
So it's you again. Lets work it out shall we. I live 10mins from the police station so assuming the police arrive in that time. The armed man has stabbed the guy he robbed and legged it. No description no idea which way he went. The fact is if I could guarantee he would do your house next I might not have bothered. You are a spineless don't care please emigrate at your earliest convenience.

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Andrew94taylor says...
11:41am Tue 23 Oct 12

Thanks for all the kind comments

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Asdf123 says...
2:14pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Andrew your a credit to yourself and to people in Darlington. Nothing worse than reading immature comments on here when some good has been done. Generally means they don't have the balls themselves. Well done.

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TheOneWhoKnocks says...
4:25pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Nice one Andrew, people like this drug-addled thief don't deserve to have the freedom to walk the streets, after 200 odd convictions it's a wonder.

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Littlebelle1994 says...
5:45pm Tue 23 Oct 12

I went to primary and secondary school with Andrew and I'm very proud to have heard he has chased down a robber, virtually one-handed and successfully avoided someone innocent losing two valuable laptops. We need more people, like Andrew, who actually care in this town. So stop hating and be proud someone in our town has done something so fabulous! Well done Andrew, hope your feet are back well soon! x

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Daza says...
8:47pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Good on Andrew, more people like him in Society please!

Less of the haters on here and more people like Andrew please!

We need people like him to assist our excellent Police Force (or service whatever they call it now)!

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drainman says...
4:05pm Thu 25 Oct 12

doolieaj wrote:
brave? more like a stupid idoit, giving chase to a burglar who could have been armed? goods can be replaced lives cant, and yet again the national helth service pays for him to be sorted out!! theres only one good thing about this story and thats no one was seriously hurt. so your fet were ruined? tough luck, next time use a phone and let the police deal with it, that is afer all their job
You really are scum arn't you.

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jandarlo says...
5:10pm Thu 25 Oct 12

well done andrew. you showed great bravery and courage by your actions. ignore idiotic comments. most of us applaud and admire your actions! one more scumbag off the streets of darlington.

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