At 4PM yesterday afternoon, Greater Manchester Police received reports of an attempted stabbing in a Morrison’s car park. By this time, BJJ blue belt and former Army medic Kev Taylor had single-handedly incapacitated the assailant and restrained him (as pictured below) until the police arrived.
The incredible story has been doing the rounds on social media having received over 266,000 likes on Facebook, and has also been picked up by national news outlets such as The Sun and The Mirror.
The Sprawl talked to Kev Taylor less than 24 hours after the incident to get a greater insight into this act of heroism.
Thanks for talking to us Kev. If you don’t mind, could you describe the events leading up to what happened on Monday? What had you been doing and what was going through your mind when you realised there was something seriously wrong?
We arrived at Morrison’s after school just to grab some salad – my wife likes the salad bar selection *laughs*. When we left I was putting the shopping in the car. I heard shouting from a woman, she was screaming “I can’t believe you said that, get away, just fuck off!” I got in my car and carried on watching to make sure they were OK as she had two small children. He came around a car, reached in his pants and pulled a knife. My wife screamed “Oh my God he’s got a knife!” but he was already getting close to them.
Did you say anything to the attacker first before engaging? Was he receptive to any commands or reasoning?
I didn’t have the chance to say anything, he was just threatening me.
Could you describe what physically happened when you engaged the attacker? We saw the knee-on-face that you employed, how else did your BJJ skills come into play?
I jumped out the car and slid across the bonnet, looking at where the knife was – it was in his left hand. I hit him with a straight right, knocking him into a car and cupped his left hand tight. I then took his back and harnessed him, grabbing his hand with my other hand. We struggled and he tried to turn towards me but I had full control, the knife snapped but only the handle fell on the floor. He still had the blade. I took him down and drove his knife hand underneath the car, put my right hand on his hip then knee-rode his face and put my other knee on his hip so I could control his other hand. I applied pressure until he dropped the knife and maintained control until the police arrived.
How do you think your experience as a doorman and a soldier influenced your ability to respond so effectively?
I’m just really glad I had my BJJ training at SBG Manchester under Karl and Matt Inman. They’ve been amazing over the years. Apart from keeping a cool head, my door work or army training didn’t really come into it – it was all jits and MMA.
Obviously this was a terrible situation and luckily you had the skills to prevent any harm from coming yourself and others. What advice might you give to either a skilled or unskilled person who found themselves in a similar situation? Was there anything you’d have done differently yourself?
Honestly I couldn’t comment, it depends on the person. I’m always really calm and have had a few knife incidents on the doors. Obviously to the untrained person I’d say don’t tackle them without some sort of barrier so you don’t get hurt, but as long as the woman and kids were alright I’m cool. Just happy to have been there
Thanks a lot for your time Kev.
No problem.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police has subsequently reported that they had “arrested a man for the possession of an offensive weapon” and that “There were no reports of any injuries”. However they are still appealing for any witnesses to come forward and provide further information.
Situations involving knives are incredibly dangerous regardless of ones’ martial arts experience, but thanks to quick thinking, proper training and a healthy dose of luck – nobody was hurt.
