‘Crate man’ Jase Shore on pinning down alleged knifeman Mert Ney in Sydney’s CBD

One of the heroes to stop an alleged knifeman from terrorising Sydney’s CBD has explained why he used a crate to pin down the 20-year-old.

The hero who made global news when he stopped an alleged knifeman from terrorising Sydney’s CBD by pinning his head to the ground with a milk crate has spoken.

Jase Shore, a former soldier with the Australian Army, was hailed a hero after he and a handful of other men tackled Mert Ney, 20, and kept him on the ground until police could arrive on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Shore’s improvised weapon of choice was the milk crate which drew some head-scratching from around the world but the former soldier explained it was just the first thing he could grab to protect himself from the 30cm knife Ney was allegedly wielding.

“I was coming around a corner, I think it just, it was just something there, at my feet, within arm’s reach while I could still see the offender, so it was one of the only things I could grab at the time,” Mr Shore told 9News.

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Jase Shore grabbed a milk crate. Picture: 9News

The former soldier, one of a handful of men described by NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller as “the highest order of heroes”, said he wished he could have done more.

Ney is alleged to have killed 24-year-old woman Michaela Dunn in a Clarence Street apartment before running through Sydney’s CBD.

Ms Dunn was mourned by family and friends yesterday, who described the 24-year-old as a “beautiful girl”.

“Michaela Dunn unfortunately passed away which is quite a sad thing, quite confronting I think,” Mr Shore said.

“It would’ve been great to help her and not let that happen.”

Despite Mr Shore’s wish it could have played out differently, the former solider said he was simply thinking of disarming Ney.

“My initial thought was to keep distance between me and him, and the blade really, or to try and get the blade out and knock him down with that object,” he told 9News.

Mr Shore clutched the milk crate, pinning it to Ney’s face as the other men pinned his body to the ground.

Mr Shore pinning Ney down. Picture: Channel 7

Police arrived a short time later and Ney was detained. He is still in hospital in Sydney after undergoing surgery for a knee injury.

He’s expected to face charges over the alleged attack.

“To be honest he wasn’t really saying too much,” Mr Shore said.

“He looked troubled and I think that was kind of the main point, we just asked everybody in the area just to sort of keep clear.”

We've heard from 'chair-man' John Ford... now meet 'crate-man', who became an internet sensation after being one of the men who stopped the Sydney stabber with a milk crate. @hansinclair9 #9News pic.twitter.com/IpOLEFJsTn

— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) August 15, 2019

The former soldier was among a group of courageous citizens, hailed as “the highest order of heroes” by NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller, who managed to stop Ney.

A lawyer named John Bamford, a group of three British men and a number of NSW firefighters made up the rest of the heroic group.

This morning, Mr Bamford reluctantly came forward after he was filmed using a cafe chair to distract Ney.

The Sydney lawyer said on Thursday he was getting lunch when he saw a man emerge from the side of a building with a “knife raised”.

“I just grabbed the chair and, you know, went after him basically as best I could,” he told Seven’s Sunrise.

“I had to get rid of my papers that I had taken for lunch to read so I had to drop them on.... but the guy knows me there so I didn’t worry about that.”

John Bamford said he did what anyone else would do. Picture: Sunrise/Channel 7

Mr Bamford said he had no option but to act and the public’s reaction to his bravery was “a bit over-egged”.

“What am I gonna do, go home and say I was there and I could have done something and backed away from it? I mean there was just, there was no option,” Mr Bamford said.

The lawyer also revealed he had a “little chat” with Ney. He said the 20-year-old claimed he had a bomb in his bag.

“(But) the zip was undone and it didn’t look like there was a bomb in there to me. He was just having me on.”

— With AAP