Mum foils knife raider
A KNIFE-WIELDING burglar fled empty-handed from a Stockton newsagents after the brave shopkeeper hit back with a cricket bat.
Naomi CorriganMulti-media Journalist
Zarda Khan flatly refused to open the till at her newsagents on Grangefield Road, despite being confronted with the robber's 12-inch blade.
And when he tried to open the till himself, Mrs Khan, 33, grabbed the bat from behind the counter, swung at him twice and he shot off through the front door.
"I wasn't frightened. I just thought 'We work so hard in this shop, you are not taking anything,'" she said.
"I've got little kids so when I think about it now it scares me, but when you work so hard for something, your instincts just tell you to fight back."
The attempted robbery occurred at around 6.45am yesterday when Mrs Khan was working alone in Grangefield News.
Her husband, Mohammed Akbar, 39, had left just a couple of minutes earlier.
Mrs Khan said: "This man came in and asked for a packet of cigarettes. I handed them to him and he put his hand in his jacket and I just thought he was getting out his money.
"But he pulled out this knife then told me not to scream and do exactly what he said, 'or I will use this'.
"I told him there were no takings in the till. He said 'open it' so I just told him 'if you can open it then go ahead, but I'm not.'
"He started messing about with the till and it was then I grabbed the cricket bat next to me. I swung for him, trying to knock the knife out his hand but I didn't manage to hit him so I went for him again and he ran off.
"We have an alarm fitted but I couldn't get to it because of the position he was standing, so I saw the cricket bat and just went for him."
The thief made off towards the Oxbridge area of Stockton.
Mrs Khan, who lives above the shop with her husband and their three children, Sajad, 14, Jawaad, 10, and five-year-old Hajra, said it is the second time their premises have been targeted in the six years they've been there.
"It's happened before when my husband was here and they took #200. There were two of them that time.
"So this time I just couldn't let this man get away with it. Why should they take our earnings when we work so hard?"
Mrs Khan described the man as white, aged around 38 to 39, 5ft 10ins tall, of thin build, with short brown hair, a long face, broken yellow teeth, small eyes, and wearing an old black zip-up jacket, black tracksuit bottoms and trainers.
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police confirmed they are investigating the incident.
"The courage of this lady is amazing but this incident could have had a very different outcome," she said.
"We would advise people not to confront anyone who threatens them with violence."
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Constable Carl Hodgson at Stockton CID on 01642 302236 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.