A man dressed as Batman chased a suspected handbag thief through the streets of Norwich before scaling a high wall to recover the stolen bag, in a bizarre real-life superhero drama captured on viral video.
Sonni Mason, 25, was wearing the Caped Crusader costume for a friend's fancy-dress birthday party when he saw a handbag being snatched during a row in a nightclub queue. Instead of standing by, Mr Mason sprang into action, joined by friends dressed as Poison Ivy and Mister Fantastic from the Fantastic Four.
Chase and police assistance
The group chased after the suspected thief and even flagged down police officers carrying out night-time patrols in the city. However, when they caught up with the suspect, the handbag was nowhere to be found.
The chase then took another twist. A tip-off led the group to the perimeter of Norwich Cathedral, around 300 metres from where the bag had allegedly been snatched. There, perched atop a high flint wall, was the missing handbag.
Wall climb and recovery
The group initially tried to retrieve the bag without climbing the wall, with one attempt involving a roll of toilet paper. When that failed, Mr Mason – still in the full Batman costume – scaled the wall and retrieved the bag himself.
He then returned it to the grateful owner, with all of its contents still inside. Footage of the rescue was posted by Mr Mason on his TikTok account, @redknightcreations, alongside the caption: "Solving real crimes. Be kind, be selfless, be brave, be Batman…"
Inspiration and police confirmation
Mr Mason, who is from London and works in a cafe, said he hoped the incident would encourage people to help others. "I hope I can inspire people to be a little bit more like Batman," he said. "Not so much the running around in the dark in a costume but helping others out. I didn’t expect to be scaling up a wall."
He added: "Everyone needs a little bit of Batman. You have to be brave, bold and kind." Mr Mason said he did not want people to think helping others required dressing up as a superhero. "I just hope more people will be inspired to do the same if they see someone being mugged or feeling uncomfortable on a night out," he said. "It shouldn’t take a superhero costume to make you want to do that."
Norfolk Police confirmed officers were approached on the night of Saturday, September 19, by a member of the public asking for help finding a missing bag. "Following inquiries at the scene, the bag was located with all of its contents intact and subsequently returned to its owner," a police spokesperson said. The suspected thief was not caught by the costumed group, but the handbag was safely returned.
