Partygoer dressed as Batman hunts down thief and scales wall to retrieve bag

He may not have been the hero they expected, but Sonni Mason turned out to be the hero they needed as he saved a woman’s handbag from a thief.

The 25-year-old had dressed up as Batman for his friend’s fancy dress party in Norwich, Norfolk on Saturday, September 19.

Sonni, from London, and his group had been in a queue outside a bar when a man who they didn’t know joined them and ‘seemed friendly’.

However, the tone soon changed and the stranger accused two women of stealing a packet of cigarettes from him – then allegedly snatched a handbag.

Sonni jumped into action and chased the bag snatcher through the streets, even scaled a wall, before flagging down police for help.

‘I hope I can inspire people to be a little bit more like Batman,’ he said of his sprint to the rescue.

‘Not so much the running around in the dark in a costume but helping others out,’ Sonni quipped.

Even the cafe shop-worker hadn’t anticipated his own heroism, saying: ‘It was really unexpected and I didn’t expect to be scaling up a wall.’

The keen cosplayer shared: ‘I’m a bog-standard guy, to be honest. I currently work at a cafe, but I’m a creative at the core. I love films and have four or five years of experience in that industry.’

It wasn’t just Batman on the robber’s tail, with Mr Fantastic, Poison Ivy and X-Men’s Cyclops all taking up the chase in a superhero crossover nobody saw coming.

When the makeshift Justice League caught up with the robber but he was no longer in possession of the bag.

A tip-off led the group to the missing accessory, which had been thrown on top of a wall outside the grounds of Norwich Cathedral.

Police allowed Batman to scale the barrier – after a boost from a friend – and retrieved the bag. He didn’t put his grappling hook, made from recycled toilet roll, into action.

Sonni said he doesn’t have much in common with Bruce Wayne, a billionaire, mansion-dwelling philanthropist who dons the cape at night.

He added: ‘There’s not a lot of good things going on in the world. At the time, being able to get someone’s bag back, make sure she could go home safe and see someone happy again felt good.

‘Everyone needs a little bit of that in them. A little bit of Batman. You have to be brave, bold and kind.

‘I would hope everyone else would do the same, whether or not they are wearing a cape or a cowl.’

Sonni concluded: ‘I didn’t want to jump off rooftops or beat people up. I just want to make sure everyone else is all right. Sincerely, that’s what [Batman] is about. He’s a protector.

‘I just hope more people will be inspired to do the same if they see someone being mugged or feeling uncomfortable on a night out.

‘It shouldn’t take a superhero costume to make you want to do that.’

A Norfolk Police spokesperson said: ‘Officers on routine night-time economy patrols in Norwich were approached by a member of the public, on Saturday, September 19, who requested help to find a missing bag.

‘Following enquiries at the scene, the bag was located with all of its contents intact and subsequently returned to its owner.’

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