A 46-YEAR-OLD man who was chasing a group of taunting teenagers died when he stepped out in front of a bus.

Witnesses say the three youths turned on Dennis Sudlow when he tried to defend a man they were abusing.

Mr Sudlow retreated into a pharmacy in Baring Road, Grove Park, to call the police.

Thinking the youths had gone, he went back outside but they then jumped out from behind parked cars and began shouting at him.

The epilepsy sufferer then gave chase - waving his walking stick at the teenagers.

But as he followed them across Baring Road, Mr Sudlow stepped out in front of a 261 double-decker bus and was crushed under its wheels.

The former council worker, of Reigate Road, Downham, was pronounced dead at the scene at 9.45pm on March 1 - three and a half hours after the incident.

Pharmacy manager Bijal Sha says at the exact moment Mr Sudlow was hit by the bus, police called back asking to speak to him.

He said: "The bus just crushed him.

"I knew him as a customer for many years. He was a gentle guy and he was being intimidated.

"He came into the shop and asked for help."

Firefighters used airbags to lift the double-decker to reach Mr Sudlow's body.

They discovered he had suffered serious head injuries.

Pharmacist Nikunj Shah, 38, said: "The three young men were in their teens, white and wearing black tracksuits.

"He was disabled. He suffered from epilepsy and used to come in every day to collect his medication.

"I have known him for 10 or 11 years.

"A tall African man got off the bus and the three youths started to harass him.

"Mr Sudlow told them to leave him alone. Then they started on him."

Mr Sudlow's neighbour Derek Clift, 69, said: "For the past few years he had not been very well, since he lost his partner.

"She had an epileptic fit in the bath about 12 years ago. After that he went into a decline."

Near-neighbour George Grace, also of Reigate Road, Grove Park, said: "I was shocked when I heard the news.

"It was a tragic way for him to go.

"He used to come round for a cup of tea so I do miss him, naturally. It was not his time."

Mr Grace, aged 81, added: "Everybody knows him and no-one has a bad word to say against him.

"The number of people who have asked me where's Dennis, where's Dennis?' "He was a nice bloke who did anything for anyone.

"I treated him like a son and he used to always say you are like my dad'."

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: "He should have just let them go but he wasn't that sort of person.

"He would want to defend what was his.

"He would not want to let people get one over on him."

A funeral for Mr Sudlow will be held next Wednesday at Lewisham Crematorium, Verdant Lane, Lewisham.

Friends of Mr Sudlow have been welcomed to join the 1pm service.

The incident caused heavy road congestion for around an hour in the surrounding area.

A spokesman from Metrobus said: "One of our vehicles on route 261 was involved in a collision with a pedestrian. Sadly, the pedestrian lost his life due to his injuries.

"Our sympathies are with the family of the man that lost his life.

"We are helping the police with their investigation into the incident."

The 261 route runs from Downham to Lewisham bus station.

In 2001, 15-year-old Christian Stewart died after he went under the wheels of a bus near the scene of the latest incident.

The accident happened outside Grove Park train station, at the junction of Downham Way and Baring Road.

  • Any witnesses to the incident are asked to call the police's collision investigation unit at Catford on 020 8285 1574.