A “gallant” pensioner, who comforted a teenage rape victim after she was dumped from a car by her attacker, told yesterday how he could not just walk on by.

Arthur Hudson, 69, a retired gardener, had gone to check his allotments early on a Saturday morning, when he was alerted by the screaming of the 19-year-old woman.

He found her laying half-naked in the gutter, near to the allotments in Queen’s Road, Bolton, Bradford.

Mr Hudson called police, covered up the woman and tried to reassure her until officers arrived.

Taxi driver Mohammed Shazad, 36, of Brantdale Road, Heaton, Bradford, was jailed for nine years after being convicted of rape.

Mr Hudson, of Wrose, Shipley, who gave evidence at the trial, was praised by Judge Robert Bartfield, who said his gallantry reflected a bygone age.

This week, Mr Hudson was given an award by the High Sheriff of West Yorkshire Richard Clough for his public-spirited actions. He said: “I try to stay on the right side of the law and to help anybody who is in need. I am glad that I did what I did, and I am proud to be honoured for it.”

Mr Hudson said when he found the girl she was hysterical. “She wasn’t making a lot of sense. When the police arrived I helped one of the officers get her into their car.”

The trial, in Bradford, was told how Shazad picked up the girl in Leeds city centre. He plied her with vodka, disguised in Lucozade, drove her around Leeds and then took her to Bradford, where he raped her at a secluded spot off Manningham Lane and then dumped her in Queen’s Road.

Mr Hudson said: “It felt great when he was convicted. I was really relieved for the girl.”

  • Read the full story in Thursday's T&A