Armed thief grabs shop cash before paying for cigarettes

A SHOPKEEPER today told how he was held up at knifepoint by an armed robber
who demanded all the cash from his till – then paid him for a pack of
cigarettes.
The 28-year-old Asian man was working at the Max News Xtra store in Clermiston when the robber came in and started to browse in the shop.

But after suddenly pulling out a ten-inch knife, the thief ordered the terrified shopkeeper to empty his till and warned him not to press the store's panic button.

The shopkeeper had surrendered around £300 in cash when the robber asked for a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from the counter display then handed back £10 to pay for them.

It is the second time in five months that the shopkeeper at the Parkgrove Street business has been targeted after he was attacked by a gang of teenage thugs who stole the till when he refused to sell them cigarettes.

The victim needed hospital treatment for a badly bruised eye after being set upon by five youths in January.

The shopkeeper, who asked not to be named, said he had been left "shocked and scared" following the latest robbery at around 11.30am on Saturday.

He added: "This man came into the shop and was looking around for two or three minutes. I asked him if he needed any help finding something. He was very friendly and said he was fine.

"I was doing some paperwork when he came up behind me and pulled out a knife with a wooden handle.

"He started shouting, 'Show me the money, I need the money'. I told him there was CCTV recording him, but he said he didn't care.

"I gave him £250 or £300 and he told me not to push the panic button. I decided just to give him the money because I was thinking of my family.

"My father-in-law also has a shop in Dalkeith and was robbed recently, too.

"Then he asked me for a pack of cigarettes. I asked him 'What kind?' and he said he wanted red Marlboros. I don't know if I gave him a pack of ten or 20, but he gave me £10 back again. Then he ran out."

The suspect is white, in his 20s, around 5ft 7ins tall, with a slim build and wearing a black hooded top, dark tracksuit bottoms and grey trainers, possibly plimsolls. He also wore a red beanie hat and a scarf around his face.

The shopkeeper added: "He was someone I had seen before in the shop. He wasn't a regular customer, more somebody who came in every two or three weeks."

A police spokesman said: "While the shopkeeper wasn't injured, he was understandably shaken and we are appealing for any information that can help us trace the suspect."

In January, the shopkeeper was attacked by five youths, with at least one of the group wearing school uniform.

The previous day, he had turned away the group when they tried to buy cigarettes.