Terror raid on shop
Reporter: HELEN KORN
Date published: 25 February 2011
RIGHT: A shop worker cowers on the floor as he is attacked by raiders with a wooden pole
A shopworker was repeatedly battered with a wooden pole during a terrifying raid on Failsworth off-licence.
CCTV cameras captured three masked men repeatedly demanding money and attacking a staff member at the Raja off-licence in Hardman Lane.
It was the second robbery at the store in three weeks but this time staff refused to let robbers get away with any cash.
As the raiders attacked one worker, another member of staff ran to an upstairs room to alert shop owner Mohammed Sheikh.
Mr Sheikh pressed a panic button to close the shop’s shutters, trapping the raiders inside, while he rang the police. He told the operator he feared for his life because the raiders were armed and that in an earlier robbery he had been attacked with machetes.
Meanwhile the injured shopworker tried to hide in a storeroom, but the raiders caught up with him and attacked him again before escaping through the back door.
Mr Sheikh said: “I called the police and they kept me on the phone for ages asking me for all these details.
“I was repeatedly asking them to come down and they kept asking while all this was happening — one of my staff had blood dripping everywhere. I’ve been robbed five times now so the police would have known this was genuine.
“I am sick and tired but I don’t know what to do now — my staff are frightened.”
The shopworker had to have stitches after suffering swelling and cuts to the top of his head and inside his mouth.
Supt Alan Greene said: “I understand this may have been a distressing experience for the victims.
“Patrolling officers were immediately made aware and deployed to the area and the first officer was at the scene within four minutes, which was within the allocated timescales for a police response for an incident like this.
“Officers received a request for armed officers to respond. During this time the operator needed to ask questions in an effort to fully establish what had happened, the risk posed and other important details, such as what the offenders were wearing.
“However detectives have now launched a thorough investigation to trace the offenders and we are confident of catching them.”
The three offenders were aged about 19 and wore black tracksuits and tops. One wore an Adidas sports top.
Anyone who witnessed the raid, at 9.30pm on Wednesday, is asked to contact police on 0161-872 5050 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555 111.
