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Not without a fight!

My masked robber was in for a suprise!


Published by: Caroline Craig & Polly Taylor
Published on: 9th August 2010

Yawning, I fumbled in my handbag for my keys, thinking about how my morning was going to drag.
My hubby Harry usually opened the Bargain Booze off-licence we’d run for the last 18 months, but this morning he was late. Working together was the best thing about it so, with him not around, I knew the morning would tick by slowly.
Turning my key in the lock, my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a motorbike revving.
Before my eyes could focus on where it was coming from, a strong, gloved hand gripped my arm.
Someone was desperate for their morning packet of cigarettes!
‘I’m not open ye…’ I started.
But staring up at the man towering over me, I froze. His cold blue eyes glared menacingly at me through the visor of his bike helmet. ‘Get inside!’ he hissed.
Blood pounded in my ears as he shoved me through the door.
This was no customer in a hurry.With his masked face inches from mine, he wrapped his arm around my neck and kicked the door shut behind us. ‘Help!’ I cried, but his sleeve muffled my scream.
‘Get to the safe,’ he spat.
Oh God. I was being robbed.There was £10,000 in the safe. We hadn’t been to the bank in a week.
As his grip tightened around my neck, so did a knot in my stomach. It wasn’t fear this time, but rage. Who did this guy think he was?
Me and Harry worked every hour God sent to keep our business going. Why should this thug waltz in and take our hard-earned cash?
Adrenaline pumping, I came up with a plan. ‘The safe’s this way…’ I croaked, steering the man, who still had his arm clamped around my throat, to the back of the shop. It wasn’t. But the panic button was. Just one push and help would be on its way… ‘Don’t lie,’ he hissed, tightening his hold on my neck.
How on earth did he know?
In one swift movement, he lifted me up so only the balls of my feet were touching the floor. Then he dragged me toward the door of the cellar where we kept the safe. He knew the layout of the shop!
Kicking the cellar door open with a thud, he pushed me forward until I was perched on the top step.It was pitch black. The stairwell looked like a bottomless pit, but I knew a push would send me down the stairs.
Thinking quickly, I relaxed my legs, letting my body sink to the floor like I’d fainted. Now, as the masked man tossed me down the stairs, I heaved my body forwards and bumped myself down the steps using my bum to cushion the fall. Some cushion! I only weighed 7½st!
Reaching the bottom, I yelped as my bum and thighs throbbed with the impact. ‘Get up,’ my attacker spat, pulling me to my feet. ‘Get the key, open the safe!’
No chance! Realising my bag was still hooked over my arm, I wrapped the strap around my wrist, gripping it tightly. He might know where the safe was – but I wasn’t giving up the key without a fight.
I might only be 5ft 2in, but I was running on adrenaline. And boy, was I stubborn! And so began the tug of war! ‘The key’s not in there,’ I screeched as he grabbed my bag. Heave! ‘You’re lying!’ he yelled.
Heave! As his hands clawed at my bag, my determination to keep it from him just got stronger.
Keep heaving, I told myself. Harry will be here soon.
Just when I thought I’d pulled it from his hands, a sharp pain shot through the left side of my face.
He’d punched me! Instinctively, my hands flew to my throbbing cheek. Wallop! My attacker thumped me again and, next thing I knew, I was on the ground. But I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.
The contents of my bag spilled everywhere, the masked man had found the key. As he turned it in the lock, I knew this was my last chance to stop him… In one swift movement, I ran forward and grabbed his leg, digging my fingernails into his tracksuit bottoms.
If he wanted my money, he’d have to take me with him!
But I was too late. The man was clutching a carrier bag he’d filled with bundles of cash from the safe. He lifted the leg I was clinging to and kicked me away, like dirt off the bottom of his shoe.
Helplessly, I lay on the floor listening to his footsteps fading up the stairs. He’d made his escape. Clambering to my feet, I raced after him and pressed the panic button. With shaking hands, I then called Harry. ‘W-we’ve been robbed,’ I stammered.
‘Did they hurt you?’ he gasped.
‘I’m fine,’ I replied. ‘But he’s emptied the safe…’
‘Forget the money,’ he said. ‘I’m on my way!’
The police and Harry arrived within minutes. I gave the police a statement, then an ambulance arrived to take me to hospital. ‘Will this take long? I’ve got to get back to the shop.’
‘Don’t be daft,’ Harry said. ‘You’re going home to rest!’
I was treated for shock as well as cuts to my face, back, hands and shoulders. A week later, my daughter
Jessica, 14, came home from school, her eyes wide with shock. ‘Police have released the CCTV footage of you and the attacker,’ she said. ‘I downloaded it.’
Oh no! I hadn’t wanted her to see it. ‘You were so brave!’ she said.
At first, I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. But curiosity got the better of me. It looked so violent!
 Thankfully, police eventually caught the culprit. Ryan Paul Jones, 23, pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to five years in prison.
It turned out his sister used to work for me – that’s how he knew the layout of the shop.
Harry is really proud of me for sticking up for myself, but worries about leaving me alone in the shop. It was scary, but I refuse to be a victim. I’d do it again without a second thought.
My only regret is I didn’t do enough to stop a lowlife making off with my hard-earned cash!
Ann Blackburn, 55, Eccles, Greater Manchester