As Cummins rifled through her handbag, he was disturbed by an 18-year-old delivery boy named John Shine, who was carrying bottles of drink into the nearby Captain's Cabin pub, forcing Cummins to flee the scene, leaving his RAF-issue gas mask and haversack in the doorway. Shine immediately ran to Heywood's assistance. Noting Heywood had regained consciousness, he then offered to accompany her to a hospital. En route, the couple encountered a policeman named James Skinner, who suggested the two accompany him to West End Central Police Station to provide witness statements detailing Heywood's attack before an officer accompanied her to a nearby hospital.