Moment hero restaurant owner wrestles with knifeman in shop

Restaurant owner Julius Cools wrestled with knifeman year after son stabbed to death

CCTV shows the moment a restaurant owner wrestled with a knifeman in his shop one year after his 14-year-old son was stabbed to death.

The man was threatening a girl in a Caribbean food shop when the restaurant owner, Julius Cools, stepped in to remove the machete-length knife.

Last November, Mr Cools’s son Jermaine was fatally stabbed near West Croydon train station, over which a 16-year-old boy has been arrested and charged.

At 14 years old, Jermaine was the youngest person to be stabbed and killed on London’s streets in 2021. That year, 30 teenagers lost their lives, setting a grim record for teenage homicides in the capital.

In the CCTV footage from October 21, Mr Cools can be seen wrestling the attacker. The pair roll into a set of chairs and tables before Mr Cools yanks the blade away from the man and orders him out of Cools Kitchen on Portland Road, South Norwood.

Despite the shocking nature of the incident, he said that the police didn't seem interested in looking at the CCTV footage.

Describing how the incident unfolded, he said: “I was in my shop, the girl came into to buy something, asking about the food and he came in so angry and arguing and I realised it was getting out of hand.

“I tried to separate them, I pushed the guy away telling him get out of my shop and I realised he had his knife.

“I don’t know where I got the energy from but I just did. He could have stabbed me, I don’t know.”

Julius Cools leaves his counter and confronts the man (Julius Cools/ SWNS)

Asked if he had ever seen the man before, the 47-year-old said: “I think he came in the shop before but I think he was following the girl from around the corner as she came into the shop.

“It is a good job she came in otherwise he could have attacked her in the street.”

Mr Cools said he confiscated the knife from the attacker who was asking for it back.

In the video he can be seen arguing across the counter before giving up and walking out.

The knifeman followed the young woman into the restaurant and confronted her (Julius Cools/ SWNS)

Mr Cools said: “All I was thinking that day was that the girl could have died in the same way [as my son] in my shop. I was doing it to protect that girl, she was only 16 or 17, she has her whole life ahead of her.

“We live in a world where if you leave your house you don’t know if you are going back home. This is the life we are living now.

“These young kids don’t care, they will kill you and laugh about it. They do not care, they have no Lord in their heart.

“All I am saying to people now is to be careful, kids and adults, anyone can get killed any time, any day.

“I am not scared of them, I don’t care. Since I lost my son last year I have no fear.”

Jermaine Cools, 14, was the youngest teenager to be killed in 2022 (Metropolitan Police)

Jermaine Cools was stabbed to death on London Road, Croydon on 18 November 2021 following reports of a fight among a group of people. Despite the efforts of medical staff, the 14-year-old was pronounced dead.

A spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were called at approximately 4.20pm on Friday, 21 October to reports of a male in possession of a knife who had entered a restaurant in Portland Road, SE25.

“Officers attended but the male had left the scene.

“The occupant in the shop was spoken to – he was not injured. He did not wish to engage with police but advised the incident had been captured on CCTV.

“CCTV of the incident was viewed but the male could not be identified.

“At this time the investigation is closed but any further information will be assessed and investigated accordingly.”