Granddad Jack nabs school pervert

A pensioner who spotted a man acting lewdly in front of his grandchildren’s national school in Galway wrestled the pervert to the ground and sat on him until the Gardaí arrived.
Jack O’Reilly (71) has been declared a hero of Shantalla after single-handedly capturing a culprit half his age who was masturbating while watching children out playing.
Jack recalls he was in the front garden of his house in Colmcille Road opposite Scoil Bhríde on Thursday last just after 1pm when he noticed a man acting peculiarly. He determined to keep a close eye on him.
“I spotted him walking across to the green and you can see the kids through the railings. He was kneeling down and looking up at the kids. He kept getting up, looking, then kneeling down. He didn’t look behind him or sideways. He never took his eye off the playground.”
Jack went up beside him. The man had his trousers half down and his private parts were in his hand.
“All of a sudden I thought that fella is masturbating. I grabbed him by the throat and held onto him,” he exclaimed.
He shouted at a neighbour in a nearby garden to call the gardaí. His daughter also came along at that point and was instructed to make a phone call.
By the time the squad car arrived 10 minutes later, Jack still had the man – believed to be in his 30s – in a firm grip. “I kept hold of him alright. He wasn’t getting away. I was a lot stronger than him.”

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.