Nisa Supermarket
A mum-of-four was told ‘Open the till or I’ll kill you’ at knifepoint during a supermarket raid on Sunday morning.
The 38-year-old shop assistant was working at Nisa in Axe Close, Luton, at 7.10am when a bladewielding robber approached the counter and asked for cigarettes.
He then grabbed her arm and held the knife and demanded money from the till – or else he would ‘kill’ her.
The woman, who we agreed not to name, said: “He came to the till and asked for ten Mayfair Superkings.
“I scanned the cigarettes and he grabbed me by the arm and pulled out the knife and said ‘Give me the money from the till’.
“At that point I went into shock, I just kept looking at the knife and the till and my mind just went blank.
“He said ‘If you don’t open this till, I’ll kill you’. I really feared for my life. He was very aggressive, very strong. I told him I was trying to open the till.
“All that I really suffered is that my arm hurts but mentally I’m scarred. It’s brought back some memories from what happened to me in the past.”
Shop owner Barry Patel believes the attack may be linked to one which happened at The Purley Centre Post Office the following day at 7.20am.
He said: “Everyone is saying it’s the same guy.”
A police spokeswoman said: “It is far too early to suggest it’s the same person but we are following all lines of inquiry.”
Anyone with information about either offence can contact Detective Constable Richard Kittappa on 01582 394334, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.