Daniel Penny and the problem with have-a-go heroes

I have always liked the phrase ‘have-a-go hero’. It sums up a certain type of person who can emerge from nowhere and coat their name with honour. One thinks, for instance, of John Smeaton, the baggage handler who was having a fag outside Glasgow airport in 2007 when two jihadis tried to blow the place up.

After a couple of explosions, Smeaton, Alex McIlveen and others ran to find out what was up and, finding one of the terrorists on fire, proceeded to kick the guy in the nuts. Indeed, so hard did McIlveen kick the guy that he himself tore a tendon. But Smeaton, McIlveen and others rightly became folk heroes. Smeaton memorably warned off any future terrorists by telling an interviewer ‘Glasgow doesn’t accept this. This is Glasgow. We’ll set about ye’. There was even a song to laud him. Locals sang it as our forebears sang around the campfires of old.

But for every have-a-go hero whose name can be carved with pride, one thinks of other cases where the situation went another way. One that sticks in my mind is Richard Whelan, whose name also came to prominence in 2007. Whelan was on a London bus with his girlfriend when a 22-year-old started harassing passengers. Specifically the hoodlum began throwing chips at people, including Whelan’s girlfriend. Whelan intervened to ask the man to stop and was promptly knifed to death. His killer was convicted and sent to Broadmoor in 2007.

I mention these contrasting cases, because both kinds are doubtless on the minds of anyone wondering whether to ‘have a go’. Since few of us know precisely how we will react in such a situation, many of our actions will be determined by what mentally comes to the fore when we survey a risky situation.