Man up for award for pursuing killer of young Coventry brothers

A man is to be given an award after he pursued and was attacked by occupants of a car after its driver hit and killed two young brothers.

Adrian Henefer immediately reacted when Corey and Casper Platt-May, aged six and two, died as they crossed a road in Coventry with their mother.

Mr Henefer was fixing a bus stop when he saw Robert Brown flee the scene in his Ford Focus after the collision.

He will be recognised at the Police Public Bravery Awards in London.

West Midlands Police said Mr Henefer, from Cradley Heath in Sandwell, ran to the Focus and wrestled the keys from Brown as he attempted to restart it after stalling, in February 2018.

Brown, 53, was later jailed for 10 and a half years for causing the boys' death by dangerous driving while high on cocaine. He had 30 previous driving convictions and had never had a driving licence.

He was previously jailed for possessing a machete and had been released on licence just six days before the crash.

At Mr Henefer's intervention, police said, Brown and his female passenger made off on foot. Brown punched the pursuing maintenance worker and the woman attacked him by swinging a carrier bag filled with beer cans.

Mr Henefer let go, only to chase the pair again as they tried to scale a fence, pulling Brown back down.

Police said he was finally forced to back off when his assailant began searching for a weapon.

But Mr Henefer kept track of the pair and guided officers to an alleyway where they were attempting to hide.

Brown was found dead in his prison cell on Christmas Day, last year.

His passenger Gwendoline Harrison, 42, of Triumph Close, Wyken, Coventry, was jailed for six months after admitting a charge of assault.

In May 2018, Corey and Casper's father, Reece Platt-May, was found dead in a hotel in Corfu.

A coroner ruled last month he had taken his own life.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.