Hero shopkeeper fights off knife-wielding robber - with cardboard box

  • 8 months ago
A hero shopkeeper fought off a knife wielding robber - with a cardboard BOX.

Soran Sharifi, 45, was behind the counter when an armed thug burst into his shop in Malvern, Worcs., and demanded cash.

Soran refused to hand over any money and the thief pressed his knife against his chest while threatening to kill him.

Quick-thinking Soran grabbed a nearby Evri parcel and used it as a shield to shove the robber back during the raid on August 26.

The robber staggered backwards before hurling bottles of gin towards Soran.

Kurdish Soran, who has lived in the UK for 15 years, said: “He come in and put on the
mask and I can just see the eyes.

“I know him, but I think he’s drunk and wants to get beer as he walked towards the fridge.

“He starts coming to with this big knife. He took out the knife and said open the till.

“I said no, he said he was going to kill me. He told me to open it again. He put the
knife towards my chest.

“I thought at that moment how to defend myself. There was a box parcel for collection.

“I was thinking how can I best protect myself as he had the knife. I don’t have any training.

“I noticed this box was quite heavy, like 10kg.

"I defended myself. I hit him and he lost control. He went back 3m and he got shocked.

“I picked up the parcel and used it to make him lose control. He was pushed back two or three metres. I used it to push him back.

“This time I was thinking how to defend myself, that’s it. I have no training.

“He took a bottle of golden gin and tried to smash it on my face. It cut my hand.

“He's come again and tried to smash another bottle on my face. He said open the till again.

“I told him, “I know you, if you want to fight, let’s fight.”

Soran reckons he knows his attacker and says unnamed locals have helped to try and identify who he thinks it is.

He managed to overpower the knife wielding thug and chase him with the heavy parcel, but ultimately let him go when he realised he didn’t need to follow him.

Soran said: “He attacked me five times and I got into a fight with him. At the end of it I recognised him with his eyes that he was a customer of my store.

“When I said ‘I know you, he ran away’. I know him very well but I didn’t know his name.

“I picked up the parcel and he’s ran away. I said I don’t need to follow him, I know him, I find him.

“The police came and took evidence and details. “

A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said: “Police responded to a call of an attempted robbery of a commercial property on Worcester Road in Malvern around 7.55pm on Saturday, August 26.

“The offender entered the shop with a knife and demanded cash. This was unsuccessful and the offender left empty handed.

"Enquiries are ongoing to locate the offender. The victim suffered minor injuries.”

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