A TEENAGE waitress helped wrestle a woman waving a razor blade to the ground days into her new role as a Special Constable.
By day Sally Chapman works in the George hotel, on High Street, Colchester, but on a Saturday night she puts on her police volunteer’s uniform and helps patrol the town.
The 18-year-old, of Ewan Close, Stanway, said she hoped to make a difference to the community, but never imagined she would be involved in such a situation.
She said: “It was about my sixth shift, and I was partnered with Del, who’s been a special for six years.
“We got a call saying a girl had been caught on CCTV self-harming.”
Initially the pair were directed to Castle Park, but then CCTV operators caught the woman on camera near Liquid & Envy nightclub.
Sally said: “We bumped into her cousin who said she had been holding a razor blade to her neck and threatening quite a lot of members of the public with it.
“There was a St John’s Ambulance man already there, but he couldn’t get near her. The blade was pressed deep into her neck, and she was still threatening everyone with it. She also had a lot of cuts to her body, but the one to the neck was the really serious one.”
Despite her inexperience, Sally stood her ground alongside Del, and the pair tried to talk to the woman, but she threatened them too so they wrestled her to the ground.
Sally recalled: “We made sure we kept the arm with the razor blade far away from us and then got her down and handcuffed her.
“I was really scared,” the teenager admitted, “but I guess instinct just came in. It is part of the job: it’s why I wanted to become a Special Constable.”
The brave youngster said her family were very proud. Sally hopes one day to join the regular police.
The injured woman was taken to hospital for treatment.
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