A Chinese takeaway delivery man has admitted he is the mystery figure dressed as Batman who handed an alleged criminal into a police station in the middle of the night.
The CCTV images of Stan Worby, 39, dressed as the Caped Crusader in a Bradford police station went around the world.
But Worby said he is not happy he has been characterised as a chubby crimefighter – protesting this morning that he looks overweight in the pictures because he had to wear a tracksuit under the outfit because of the cold.
He was caught on camera at Trafalgar House police station in the centre of the West Yorkshire city handing in his friend, 27-year-old Danny Frayne.
Frayne was wanted by police and Mr Worby said he agreed to go with him to the station after he had been to London for Bradford City’s Capital One Cup Final clash with Swansea City, just over a week ago.
He told ITV Daybreak: “Obviously it was done as a joke.
“He (Frayne) wanted to get straight down. Obviously I wanted my bed. It was half-one in the morning.”
And asked how he felt about the worldwide coverage of his exploits, Mr Worby said: “Gobsmacked. I didn’t expect this.
“At the end of the day it was a practical joke, just between me and Daniel.”
Asked about his paunch he said it was just because he was trying to stay warm.
Mr Worby, who is from the Wyke area of Bradford, said: “I’ve got my full tracksuit underneath. I’m not just wearing this – it’s too thin.”
West Yorkshire Police said the mystery Caped Crusader told them: “I’ve caught this one for you.”
Officers added that he “then promptly vanished into the night to fight crime and the fear of crime in Bradford”.
Officers had not known the identity of the man posing as the camp 1960s incarnation of the famous DC Comics character, rather than the dark, black figure familiar to fans of the Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan film versions.
Frayne, of Queen Street, Buttershaw, Bradford, had been wanted in connection with a number of alleged offences. He was later charged with handling stolen goods and fraud-related offences, and will appear before magistrates on Friday.
The mystery was announced by the neighbourhood police team for the Buttershaw area of Bradford on their Facebook page.
They said: “Last week we had a very strange occurrence at the police station when a male wanted for an offence on our area was ‘escorted’ into our helpdesk at Trafalgar House by Batman.
“Batman came into the helpdesk, stated to the staff ‘I’ve caught this one for you’ and then promptly vanished into the night to fight crime and the fear of crime in Bradford.
“The whole bizarre incident was captured on CCTV.”
The officers added: “This post is meant as a bit of a light-hearted news.”
A later post from the officers in Buttershaw said “Inspector Alan Rhees-Cooper said that officers had made diligent inquiries in the local community to locate this individual.
“This often leads to members of the community assisting the police or to the individual themselves voluntarily attending the police station to speak to the police.”
One of the Police Community Support Officers said in another post that they had been looking for the man but “Ultimately Batman beat us to the punch… Until next time, Batman, until next time!!!”
They also joked that Robin must have been outside keeping the Batmobile running.