A HAVE-a-go hero has told how he had to let a car thief go free because people refused to call the police or give him a hand.

Ex-Commando Jimmy Sehmi saw the four teenage thieves leap from the wreckage of the car they had taken a few moments before from a nearby house in Gillingham.

The stolen car hit four parked cars, writing two of them off and causing thousands of pounds in damage. The stolen car was also a write-off.

Astonished neighbours were still trying to understand what had happened when Mr Sehmi spotted them run, and gave chase through Gillingham's streets. He eventually caught two yobs in Sturdee Avenue after the quartet split up in Barnsole Road.

But when he asked for assistance, passers by refused to stop or to phone the police. "One man in a white van stopped, then drove off," he said. "I even knocked on a house for help but they said they didn't want to get involved. I said thanks for your help - I couldn't believe it."

He had rushed out of his home in Albany Road, Gillingham, after hearing the car crash. It hit four neighbours' cars. Three vehicles were so badly damaged they may have to be written off.

After the householder shut the door on him, he had to let one youth go. He knelt on the other, aged 15, until a Good Samaritan finally summoned the police. They arrived 15 minutes after the chase began.

"I told him I was quite willing to give him a good kicking, but he seemed to have lost interest when his mate left him with me," said the former Army cross country runner and ex-Berlin Marathon competitor.

The car had been stolen at the top of Albany Road after the door was kicked in. The youths used a homemade key to start it. Halfway down the road they lost control when the steering locked at speed, hit the four cars and spun round.

One of those whose car was wrecked was Bob Everett, a registered disabled driver. "Jimmy was a real hero," he said. "But why won't people help?"