Tiger Mate,
"Worth a note that the eyewitness is unlikely to be an unbiased rotary expert and 'brave and hard' is more akin to tabloid headlines"
dunno, i would of said that 'Brave and Hard' would be a fairly common figure of local speech, denoting anything unusually fast, low or noisy.
Chavs in sooped up Nova's would be said locally to drive in a 'Brave and Hard' manner, drunken youths being aggressive in the street or in bars would be described as acting in a 'Brave and Hard' manner.