Hamzah Albar, a Muslim student from Saudi Arabia, has been hailed as a hero after he witnessed a horrifying attack on a woman in Sunderland and bravely intervened to stop the assault. 

The 24-year-old, who has lived in the UK for half of his life and recently graduated, has been dubbed ‘hero Hamzah’ by both the victim and investigating officers.

He said it was “divine timing” that led him to apprehend the attacker, Ian Hudson.

Hudson had followed the woman, who was in her 60s, late at night before launching a brutal assault at a bus stop. He gouged her eyes, strangled her, and bit her thumb while attempting to rape her violently.

As Hamzah apprehended him, Hudson even had the audacity to hurl racist abuse and attempted to sway bystanders by claiming Hamzah was attacking him for no reason.

In a video with Northumbria Police, Hamzah spoke about the incident and what it meant to him to step in and help someone who really needed it. 

‘Hero Hamzah’ 

It was a routine journey for Hamza – heading to his local shop – when he heard the woman’s screams. Looking around, he saw Hudson attacking her. He tried to call the police but his phone battery died mid-call.

“At this point, it’s decision time. I need to do something,” Hamzah said in the video.

“I just ran up to the bus stop, and I screamed and shouted at him to stop. And that’s when he turned around, he looked at me, and he instantly started running away.

 “I ran after him, and I caught up to him relatively quickly. As I turned him around, he instinctively punched me in the face. At the time, obviously, with all of the adrenaline and everything, I didn’t feel it at all. “

Hamza wrestled Hudson to the ground and sat on him before flagging two other members of the public to call the police.

“He was hurling racist insults and trying to shift the perception of the situation to make it seem like I had attacked him for no reason,” said Hamza.

Officers arrived shortly after. “At that point, I let go and I realised that my job in this is done,” he added.

When Hamzah later met the victim, she told him she had been fighting for five to ten minutes and had been on the verge of giving up before he arrived.

He described the moment as “divine timing.”

“Things happen for a reason. I was there when I needed to be, and I did exactly what I had to do,” he said.

“If he hadn’t stopped him, I would be dead.”

Hudson was recently jailed for nine years, with an additional five years on an extended licence.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said, “I honestly believe he [Hudson] would have killed me had the witness not come along. If he hadn’t stopped him, I would be dead.”

The police and the judge in the case commended Hamzah.

At the conclusion of the trial, recorder David M Gordon said: “I wish to formally commend Mr Hamzah Albar for his extraordinary courage and public-spiritedness.

“Mr Albar intervened without hesitation to prevent the rape of the complainant who was in clear and immediate danger. In doing so, he not only placed himself at personal risk, but was in fact assaulted by the defendant as he restrained him until the police arrived.

“His actions undoubtedly prevented an even more serious offence from being carried out and ensured that the defendant could be swiftly brought to justice.”

Image credit: Northumbria Police