A heroic homeless man bravely stepped in to halt an alleged attempted early hours break-in at a Billingham charity shop.

Tom Bateman, 25, was sleeping rough on Monday morning when he heard banging at the British Heart Foundation shop in the town centre.

He said a raider with a shopping trolley was bashing away at the glass when he bravely stepped in and told him to "f*** off".

Plucky Tom, who says he has lived on the streets for around 10 years, told Teesside Live: "I was sleeping rough within earshot of the British Heart Foundation, this was about 3am.

"There was a bit of a 'bang, bang, bang', at first I thought it was a drunk person.

"It continued, I started to hear a smashing, I was like, there's something going on here."

Damage to the British Heart Foundation shop in Billingham

Leaving his Staffie, Zeus, with his belongings, Tom courageously went to investigate the source of the commotion to find a man trying to break into the shop.

"I saw this guy, I just went up to him and said 'what's going on, why don't you just f*** off'.

"'What's wrong with you, it's a charity shop.'"

The barefoot hero said he considered a citizen's arrest but realised he hadn't tied up Zeus and feared his dog might come to his aid and attack the man.


He then rushed off to a nearby phone box where he said he alerted the police.

He added: "He was keeping me awake. If it was Asda, maybe I might have not been so keen.

"With it being a charity shop  - there's some things that ethically you can't do."

Tom is originally from Cheshire but says he has spent the best part of a decade out on the streets.

He said he and Zeus have settled in the North-east for "quite a while" and like Billingham.

Tom Bateman, 25, alleges the Aldi manager deliberately dowsed him with water
Tom Bateman, 25

"The local kids, they have all been sound to me, it's a nice place."

Despite admitting he has the possibility of being housed, he admitted he chooses to sleep rough as it's what he knows.

Tom hit the headlines last month after claiming a manager from Aldi in Billingham threw water over him.

"I was just busking on my drums," he said.

"The manager comes out and tells me to move. I wasn't doing anything wrong. I wasn't asking for money."


After a tense confrontation, the manager phoned Cleveland Police before allegedly telling Tom: "I'm getting bored of this. I think I'm going to water my plants."

Tom said: "He then comes back with a big bucket of water and deliberately ensures the water goes all over me. He used the excuse he was watering his sign."

Aldi said it "strongly refutes" the claims, instead claiming its employee was cleaning graffiti two feet from where the Tom was sat, but at no point was water thrown deliberately at him.

The British Heart Foundation was left with a broken window after the alleged attempted break-in.