Thai boxer helps York police officer arrest knife-wielding attacker

The attacker was armed with a 12 inch butcher’s blade

Dramatic CCTV footage has been released showing the moment a Thai boxer helped a York policeman wrestle a knife-wielding attacker to the floor.

PC Rich Farrar only noticed Dean Edwards, 28, was armed with a 12 inch butcher’s blade when he resisted arrest.

Speaking last year, PC Farrar said: “I went to search the back of his waistband and that's when he launched himself backwards.”

"I got hold of him and he ended up on top of me. I wrestled him and I got on top of him, but all that time I didn't know what he had on him."

The video shows Edwards temporarily escaping the policeman’s clutches but the officer was assisted by Andy Haigh, 49, a member of the public handily trained in Muay Thai boxing and jujitsu.

Mr Haigh applied a chokehold on Edwards while PC Farrar handcuffed him.

The incident took place in Exhibition Square on 26 September 2015.

Edwards was sentenced to a total of 30 months in prison; Judge Stephen Ashurst described him as “someone who is essentially lawless.”