US intelligence worker stabbing in Cheltenham was 'frenzied'

A man who halted a knife attack on a US intelligence worker has described the "frenzied attack" in a leisure centre.

Steve Bunn, 44, helped to stop Joshua Bowles who was attacking a US intelligence worker.

Mr Bunn, who has been given a bravery award, said he saw a "massive kitchen knife" which Bowles was thrusting towards the woman.

Bowles, 29, himself an intelligence worker from the UK, was jailed for 13 years for the attack in March.

He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assaulting a second person, causing actual bodily harm.

"To be at the right place at the right time, to be able to intervene, I was quite thankful I was in that position," Mr Bunn said.

Mr Bunn - who has a martial arts and security background as well as running a crossfit company - was about to leave the leisure centre on Tommy Taylors Lane in Cheltenham, close to GCHQ, when two women came in.

"The two girls came in shouting 'help us we've been jumped'. One was bleeding badly from the mouth, and being helped by her friend," he said.

However, they were alone, there were no staff in the reception area or other members of the public at 21:00, so he went to help them.

But very quickly, the man came in to try and stab the woman again, Mr Bunn said.

"I think with the training I've done, I'm in a really good position to be able to intervene in something like that. However, you just don't expect it," Mr Bunn said.

He explained that he "didn't really clock him as he came in" because he was focusing on the injured women.

"There was a frenzied attack on her. I immediately jumped in, not initially realising there was a knife. As soon as I grabbed him, I saw this massive kitchen knife.

"He was thrusting the knife underneath my arm towards her. I saw it, lives flashed before me, I thought of my children at home, thought I'd end up in a pool of blood on the floor.

"It was zero to 100 quite quickly. Within a few seconds of trying to protect myself and her, I thought I heard the knife drop on the floor," he said.

Once he realised it had been dropped, he pushed Bowles away, putting his bag between the two of them for protection.

Mr Bunn said he realised the "fight had gone out" of Bowles, who the judge said at sentencing had carried out a "politically motivated attack" driven by "anger and resentment" towards GCHQ and women.

Mr Bunn added that Bowles seemed "frustrated" and looked "anxious".

"He didn't say anything and for 30 seconds we looked at each other as he paced around a bit. I could see he was quite clearly distressed himself," he said.

He remembered asking the man if he was alright - the attacker said he was not and Mr Bunn recalls him saying "I've tried to kill her haven't I? I've tried to kill her".

"I asked him the same question again. I said to come over to the corner, wait for the police to come."

Mr Bunn carried on talking to him "weirdly, almost like you'd chat with a friend down the pub".

"He'd come down specifically just to see her and kill her purely because of what she stood for and who she worked for," Mr Bunn said.

"He said a few times that essentially he hasn't made a very good terrorist. It might have been different if he'd brought a gun down.

"I was humouring him, trying to not make him any more aggressive."

He said it was around 20 minutes before armed police came into the building and he moved out of the way.

Mr Bunn said he has not been traumatised by the incident, partly because has used to work in security, but he does think about it sometimes.

"I'm thankful she didn't die and I didn't die. I managed to survive," he said.

Mr Bunn returned to the leisure centre very soon afterwards, although it was a bit "strange" walking through reception again, he said.

Now, he has been given a local bravery award by the police force in Gloucestershire.

He has not heard anything from the women but said "from what I understand from their position, they're tied to secrecy".

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