New job and cash as luck turns for MG Rover worker

DESPAIR has turned to joy for an MG Rover worker who has found a new job and been given a cash award for helping to catch criminals within days of being made redundant.

Jason Foxall was awarded £100 for his public-spirited action by Worcester Crown Court, this week, after two illegal immigrants were jailed for a plot he helped to foil - illegally copying cash cards in Bewdley.

The quality manager, who was made redundant from Longbridge on Monday - his 35th birthday - spotted a fake front attached to a HSBC cash machine in Load Street, Bewdley, after reading an article in the Shuttle Times & News warning cashpoint users to be on their guard.

He removed the device, linked to a video camera in a nearby car, and was on his way to the police when he was confronted by two men, who snatched it from him.

Despite fearing he could be stabbed or shot, he gave chase - calling 999 and relaying details of their BMW getaway car.

The vehicle was stopped in Kidd-erminster following a high-speed police chase and Iulian Vasile, 22, and Augustin Iordache, 27, were caught after trying to escape by leaping into the River Stour.

They both pleaded guilty to going equipped to cheat when the case was heard this week and were each jailed for 21 months.

Iordache, who also admitted dangerous driving, had another six months added to his sentence and was banned from driving for 18 months.

Bewdley father-of-two, Mr Foxall, said of his £100 award: "When I did it I didn't have that in mind but it's lovely to have it - especially having just been made redundant."

The former Bewdley High School pupil, who worked at MG Rover for 15 years, said he was also celebrating landing himself a new job. He starts at Worcester boiler-makers, Bosch, on Monday.

"I've got a lot of colleagues whose chins are on the floor and they don't know what they're going to do with themselves, so I am one of the lucky ones," he said.

"It's been a real up and down kind of fortnight, to be honest, and it looks like I'm hopefully on the up now."

He added he had already been given £150 by the bank for his actions on November 11, last year and said: "The more I think about it, it just felt like the right thing to do.

"At the time, I didn't think about the consequences and it's afterwards that I thought how dangerous it was - but, having said that, I'd probably do it again."