A London litigator turned into a crime fighter last week, foiling an attempted raid on a West End boutique.

David Goodman, 57-year-old sole principal at Goodman & Co just off Oxford Street, was taking a cab home after working late when he saw a gang of four scooter riders trying to break into the Anya Hindmarch handbag shop in Bond Street.

Goodman jumped out of his cab and shouted at the thieves to stop. The gang fled. Four arrests were later made in the East End. The plucky solicitor told Obiter he acted because he was outraged by their actions. ‘I wasn’t afraid, it looked like they were opportunists and not equipped with tools or weapons. I race boats, and as a solicitor I’m required to make calculated decisions in a split second over what to do, and that’s what I did.’

Goodman says he is a believer in allowing professionals to rely on their professional judgement, without being saddled with rules. Otherwise, he says, you end up with a society where all people do is what they are told to do. Sounds like he must be a fan of outcomes-focused regulation…