Sonni Mason, a 25-year-old Batman cosplayer, chased a man who allegedly snatched a handbag while Mason and friends queued outside a Norwich bar. He alerted police, then climbed a wall near Norwich Cathedral with help from a friend to retrieve the bag, which was returned intact. The incident matters as an unusual example of a bystander helping someone during a street theft, although police made no arrests.

The alleged thief had joined the queue before accusing two women of stealing cigarettes from him and running off with one woman’s bag. Mason’s improvised grappling hook, made from recycled toilet roll, failed, and his superhero-costumed friends helped him reach it. A video of the incident has been viewed more than 300,000 times on TikTok, while Norfolk Police confirmed the bag was recovered during night-time patrols.