One Saturday in February, Bridgerton actress Genevieve Chenneour did something quite ordinary for a 27-year-old. She, her then-boyfriend, and her black maltipoo Ralph visited Joe And The Juice on London’s Kensington High Street. She ordered a flat white and sat down to wait.
The moment Genevieve Chenneour realises a thief has taken her phone
What happened next was far from ordinary. Chenneour noticed two young men, about 20 years old, dressed in black, pacing through the store. One of them sneaked up behind her as she sat at the counter and snatched her phone. The incident was captured on CCTV footage that later went viral. The attention it received wasn’t due to outrage over phone thefts or a celebrity being targeted. It was because Chenneour (strikingly beautiful and a mere 60kg) disarmed the thief and, with her boyfriend’s help, subdued him on the floor in roughly 30 seconds.
THE KICK If faced with an attacker rushing at you, use a chest kick to create space. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Lift your dominant knee to your chest and snap your foot forward, targeting the attacker’s chest with the ball of your foot. Lean back slightly for balance and strength. Keep your guard up with your hands near your face. Run quickly if you can after contact.
‘My brain was all over the place,’ Chenneour recalls. ‘Watching the video later, I barely recognized my actions.’ Those actions were remarkable. She grabbed the attacker’s arm, pushed her 6ft assailant at the throat, retrieved her phone amid the scuffle, and jabbed its corner forcefully into his ribs—a move she takes pride in. ‘People don’t realize, but your phone is a powerful weapon,’ she says. The video shows the would-be thief sprawled on the coffee shop floor.
THE KNEE STRIKE If your arms are grabbed, remain calm and stabilize yourself by firmly planting your feet. Thrust one knee sharply toward the attacker’s groin or stomach, targeting vulnerable spots effectively. Lean back slightly to maintain balance. Use your hips to increase the power of the strike. After impact, attempt to break free and escape.
Though she may seem more like a Bridgerton debutante than a Kill Bill character, Chenneour is unexpectedly tough. Her father, Tim Randall, served as a British Army officer, and she was an adventurous child who represented Team GB in artistic swimming. After an injury turned her path towards stunt work before acting, she received fight choreography training from the same boxing coach as Jason Momoa and Charlize Theron. ‘I also have three brothers, and we’d have massive wrestling matches growing up. Honestly, boys don’t intimidate me.’
The key, Chenneour says, is to accept that, when attacked, ‘your mind will go blank. But if you’ve learnt how to fight back, you can go into autopilot and unconsciously defend yourself.’ That’s something 41-year-old martial arts expert Joanna Ziobronowicz agrees with. She founded Women’s Self-Defense UK, which runs workshops teaching basic steps to use if you’re a victim of an assault. We brought the two women together here to demonstrate five essential self-defence moves for YOU readers.
THE ELBOW STRIKE If an attacker grabs your arms and steps in close, twist your body to loosen their grip. Raise one elbow close to your body and drive it sharply into the attacker’s jaw, nose or side of the head. Twist your hips and shoulders to add power. Aim for soft targets. After impact, break free and run.
‘During an attack,’ Ziobronowicz explains, ‘you experience an amygdala hijack, in which the brain’s fear centre takes over. Your body freezes and your fine motor skills – complicated movements with your hands, for example – are impaired. But your gross motor skills are maintained, so simple moves like palm strikes and basic pushes are vital.’ Her overriding advice to women? ‘Men are often bigger and stronger, and if we don’t quickly hurt them, we are likely to lose the fight. Strike the person, break away and then run – especially if there are multiple attackers or they have a weapon.’
Chenneour didn’t realise her assailant had backup who claimed to have a knife. After restraining the first man, the accomplice approached her, threatened to stab her, and helped the phone snatcher escape. The first attacker, Zacariah Boulares, 18, was later arrested for a string of muggings and jailed for 22 months. A 19-year-old man was also arrested but released without charge.
THE GROIN PUNCH If caught in a headlock, stay calm and drop your weight to lower your centre of gravity. Use your free arm to punch downward hard between the attacker’s legs, aiming for the groin. Keep striking fast and with force. If possible, use your elbow on their ribs, too. Target soft areas relentlessly and when their grip loosens, break free quickly and run.
‘I feel quite traumatised by that,’ Chenneour says, ‘and I still don’t feel safe in public spaces.’ After breaking up with her partner, she left her London home of seven years and moved back with her mother in Portsmouth, too scared to live alone in case the accomplice came after her. ‘I feel like my life has shrunk, and there’s some shame that I’ve been so affected by the event. I’ve felt so alone, and there’s not a system there to help women like me process something like this.’
The greatest support has come from strangers – especially other women – who have experienced similar assaults. ‘People message me and say, “I didn’t fight back but watching you strike that attacker gives me satisfaction.”’ Chenneour hopes to work with a women’s safety charity and believes school-age girls should be taught basic self-defence ‘to stop the pattern of boys grabbing you, slapping your bum, hitting you, and girls just having to get on with it.
FRAMING If an attacker locks around your neck, bring both hands up. Aim your dominant hand’s flat palm at the attacker’s jaw at a 90-degree angle and extend your other arm straight with a flat palm as support. Push forward firmly and quickly, aiming to shove their face or upper body away from you. Use your legs to drive the force. Step back immediately to create distance and escape.
‘Women need to be able to stand their own ground and be taught to defend themselves rather than tolerate s**t happening to them,’ she says. ‘Let us be fierce and fight back. The world needs more of that.’
To find out more about Joanna’s self-defence training and safety skills workshops for women, contact womenselfdefense.co.uk
Hair: Dayna Vaughan-Teague.
Make-up: Levi-Jade Taylor at Carol Hayes.
Styling Jessica Carroll.
