Security guard praised for saving abuse victim’s life

A security guard working at an Asda store in Walsall has been praised for saving the life of a slavery and assault victim.

The guard who has chosen to remain anonymous spotted the victim being beaten by two offenders in a Nissan Micra car. As he saw bruises on the face and head of the man at the receiving end of the torture, he promptly called up the police. Officers responded quickly and arrested the offenders - Roheed Ahmed and Kameron Hussain.

It was discovered later that the duo held three men, including the one who suffered bruises, in a house in Walsall and assaulted them with bed slats, stripped them naked and hit them with brooms.

A liquid was poured on a victim’s head and set alight. One of the victims was also forced to work in a garage without any payment except for meals.

The security guard’s information to the police in October last year led to the duo’s arrest and conviction.

Ahmed and Hussain, both from Walsall admitted false imprisonment, bodily harm and theft in April and both were sentenced to nine years and eight months of imprisonment. The judge also praised the security guard for his timely action.

"I spotted them when they came in and I followed them around," the guard told BirminghamLive, adding he then called 999.

He described the offenders’ actions as “extremely evil” and said he was “more or less dancing” when he heard of their sentencing earlier this month. However, he learnt about the full extent of the harassment only when his colleague read the full story.

For the guard who had previously worked in community safety, it was not difficult to spot the abuse as the victim “was covered in bruises”.

He said other security staff should also be trained to spot any harassment.

“If more people are aware not only would incidents go down, anybody who is thinking of acting in that manner will think twice”, he told BirminghamLive.