Sometimes you read a story that restores your faith in humanity, like the time a portly British fellow dressed as Batman handed over a burglary suspect at a police station in Bradford, where police had a chuckle, publicly declared that the Batman’s identity was still unknown, and went about their business, because British cops are clearly much more chill than the ones in the US, where Batman would surely have been hog-tied and/or tazed. Later we found out British Batman was a 39-year-old delivery man named Stan Worby, and the guy he’d brought in was actually a friend of his who he’d been out drinking with. It sounded less like a vigilante story than it did a wacky Nick Frost/Simon Pegg comedy, but it was still fun. Well now those same two dudes have been arrested for stealing tools from a garage. I’m just waiting for there to be drugs or gangsters involved – this could turn into a Guy Ritchie or Danny Boyle movie before we’re through (I assign all stories from other countries stereotypes from films).
Stan Worby was filmed on CCTV in a Bradford police station, forcing Daniel Frayne to answer an arrest warrant issued over claims he tried to cash a stolen cheque.
But now the pair have been accused of trespassing in a garage and stealing £770 worth of power tools.
Worby and Frayne made headlines when the former, a 39-year-old takeaway delivery man, handed the latter in at a police station while wearing a superhero suit.
Frayne later pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods and trying to use a stolen cheque, and is awaiting sentence.
When he appeared before magistrates yesterday on the separate burglary charge, Frayne pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor Jane Farrar asked to Frayne to be remanded in custody because of an alleged breach of a court order at his new home in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire.
However, magistrates granted him bail on condition he observe a curfew, live at home [I doubt that will be a problem -Ed.] and not attempt to contact Worby, who has not yet entered a plea.
The pair were pictured at a police station in Bradford on February 25, and Worby sparked public imagination because of his unusual outfit.
His identity was revealed the next week, when he said that he had been wearing the Batman suit during Bradford City’s League Cup final match against Swansea City before travelling home that night.
Speaking after the incident, he said: ‘I’m no superhero. I eat kebabs. I never run anywhere. The furthest I walk is from my house to my car.
‘I’ve never done fancy dress before, it’s not my thing. So for this to happen the first time I dress up, I just can’t believe it.’ [DailyMail]
Oh, he’s still a superhero, but I think we may have to shorten his name from “British Batman” to just “British Man,” because this is the most British story I’ve ever read. Like, more British than Benedict Cumberbatch wearing a powdered wig on his way to the Cross-Dressing and Tomatoes for Breakfast Festival in a double-decker bus. “I’m no superhero. I eat kebabs.”