The acting chief executive of Nine Entertainment has recalled how he bravely stepped in to save a teen from an armed gang of youths as the large group turned on him.
Matt Stanton has been unmasked as one of the two men who helped barricaded the door of Fratelli Fresh in Manly on Sydney’s northern beaches on January 6 as a gang of 40 teens tried to storm inside.Â
After police released images of Mr Stanton and another witness seeking information about the incident last week, the Nine boss, who was appointed acting CEO of the media giant last September following the resignation of Mike Sneesby, made contact.
Mr Stanton had been having dinner with his wife when their meal was interrupted by a commotion up the street where a teenage boy was repeatedly punched and kicked by the gang near Manly wharf.
A brave couple intervened to pull the boy from the group and dragged him inside the restaurant as they were spat on and hit with bottles.
Mr Stanton said he acted out of ‘natural instinct’ as he ran to the door and tried to barricade the angry mob outside as they came after the teen.
‘I just held the door and said ‘No, no, you’re not coming in’,’ he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
He claimed two youths spat in his face and made threats as they tried to push past him.
Matt Stanton (pictured left in the striped t-shirt) was one of two men who held the door against the rampaging mob trying to hunt down their victim. Police want to speak with the second witness ( alsopictured)
‘How I didn’t lose my cool and give them a smack, I don’t know,’ Mr Stanton said.
‘That’s probably what I’m most proud of.’
Eventually the attackers gave up and fled as police arrived.
Mr Stanton was shocked and quite ‘frightened’ to learn afterwards that police found a large knife left in the street as the youths dispersed as it had not occurred to him the group of would be armed.Â
‘I’ve never seen anything like it in the 15 years I’ve been going down there,’ Mr Stanton said.
He admitted his actions were ‘a bit stupid’, a view apparently shared by his wife, but said he did not know what would have happened had the gang been able to enter the restaurant.
A group of 40 teenagers were part of the gang that assaulted a teenage boy near Manly Wharf on January 6
Mr Stanton claimed he was spat on and threatened by the gang of youths as he blocked him from entering the restaurant
The couple who initially intervened had also been dining when they saw the boy being viciously kicked and punched in the middle of the street.
Simon, who did not provide his last name, posted on social media that the group assaulted him and his partner Renee as they were trying to save the boy from their clutches.
‘I was bottled and Renee was spat on multiple times,’ he said.Â
‘Then we ran him across to [restaurant Fratelli Fresh] who sheltered him.’
The couple also helped to block the restaurant’s entrance as the teen, who had been ‘screaming for his life’, escaped.Â
Police are still hoping to speak to a second man, who helped Mr Stanton barricade the Fratelli Fresh doors.
He’s described as Caucasian, aged in his 40s and was wearing a blue T-shirt and denim shorts.Â
Police established Strikeforce Crookhaven to investigate the brawl and in the process of obtaining CCTV of the vicinity.
No arrests have yet been made.
