Riot hero commended by police spent three months on looting 'Wanted' poster According to his legal claim, submitted at the High Court and reported in the Daily Mail, he had just finished work one day in early August, 2011, when one of the worst waves of riots Britain had seen for years began. Unable to drive home from work because of the disorder, Mr Austin set off on foot. When he saw a distressed woman in her 70s from one of the council estates he managed, he helped her to find her way home through the turmoil. He is then said to have spotted a bus driver, whose vehicle had been attacked by rioters, who was unable to drive on because of debris in the road. Mr Austin reassured him and moved the obstacles. As the riot grew in intensity he saw a terrified woman clutching a baby in the window of a building as a torched car burned outside. Realising she feared the flames would spread, he went in to help. Once she was safely outside he scoured the premises, despite thickening smoke making breathing difficult, banging on doors to see if anyone needed to evacuate. According to his legal claim: "On three separate occasions police officers thanked him for his assistance."