James Martin defiantly took to Twitter this week to recall a scary mugging incident that had been witnessed by two members of his team. The TV chef had been so appalled by what he had heard that he wanted to speak out about it on behalf of the victim, who was an elderly woman, in the hope that someone might be able to help her find the medal that had been stolen. He wrote: "Don't normally do this but this is aimed at the vile 2 20yr olds who one of my team witnessed mugging a poor old lady in Sheffield town centre today. You took her purse for £40 & a medal she treasured. Please all look out for this to help her or if you saw it report to the police."
James Martin used his celebrity to try and help a vulnerable mugging victim
The story touched a lot of people who were desperate to help the woman, and many took to the comments section to ask James if he had her details so that they could transfer her the money that had been taken. One wrote: "I'll gladly replace her £40 if you know how to get it to her, sadly the medal will mean much more to her and is likely irreplaceable. Hopefully those responsible will at least do one decent thing and get the medal back to her." Others are full of sympathy for the lady: "Oh no this makes me so sad but so angry that people think they can violate others and take what's not theirs. This medal means nothing to them but probably the world to this old lady. I hope she is ok and the medal is found x."
The TV chef was determined to help
James himself witnessed a traumatic incident last year, when he saw a man collapse on stage at an awards show and die. The experience caused James to re-assess his own life and workload as the deceased man had a similar work ethic to him, and was really keen on his work. As a result, James made the decision to quit his presenting role on Saturday Kitchen. Talking about it on Loose Women in February, James reflected: "All of us were in total shock, and I got back on the plane and thought, 'Now I'm going to re-address the balance.'" The star then said that he is now back cooking in his restaurant, something that he "loves".
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