A GOOD citizen who intervened as a man was being savagely beaten, disarming one of the attackers before giving chase, has been commended for his bravery.
Patrik Stephens-Talajka heard shouting outside his Waterside home in Kendal during the early hours of March 30 as Luke Canning and Jordan Jenkinson carried out a brutal revenge attack on a male following an earlier incident.
Pyjama-wearing Mr Stephens-Talajka, aged 32, ventured outside and wrenched a metal bar from Canning as he used it to deliver more than a dozen brutal blows – and then tried to chase the attacker as he fled.
Canning and Jenkinson were later arrested by police following an attack which left their victim with serious and life-changing injuries. And a judge who last month gave them jail terms of nine-and-a-half years and 12 years, respectively, praised the courageous actions of Mr Stephens-Talajka and a female resident who also assisted.
“Regrettably I suspect that many people these days would have turned a blind eye. Many would not have dared to get involved,” said Judge James Adkin. “I am convinced that further extreme violence – possibly even leading to the death of (the man) – would have resulted if those two brave members of the public had not intervened.”
Mr Stephens-Talajka, now of Kirkby Stephen, received a commendation and £750 reward from Cumbria’s High Sheriff, Marcia Reid Fotheringham, during a ceremony at Carlisle Crown Court. “I didn’t really worry about my safety,” he recalled of the attack. “It was a nasty thing going on. Nobody deserves anything like that, no matter who you are.”
Proud wife Natalie, 31, called her husband “amazing; very brave”.
During the commendation ceremony, Ms Reid Fotheringham likened Mr Stephens-Talajka to a “superhero – because you were”. She told him: “You are a great example of a terrific man and resident and citizen of Cumbria.”
