Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Terror at the till:
A knife-wielding biker terrified shop staff during a string of armed raids across the district.
The man targeted two bookmakers and two village stores in little more than 24 hours on Thursday and Friday.
Two people, including one young woman, were held at knifepoint and told they would have their throats slit as the man demanded cash.
In each raid he was captured on CCTV wearing a black motorcycle helmet and a dark puffer jacket.
First hit was the Coral bookies in Wincheap shortly before 5pm on Thursday.
After threatening staff, the man was given cash before fleeing towards the Wincheap roundabout.
The following morning, at 10.30am, he struck at Shalmsford Street Post Office, where he held a knife to the throat of a young woman.
Mohammad Rana, who has owned the store for 13 years, had been alerted to the commotion by an alarm behind the shielded post office counter.
He said: “A female member of staff was talking to my son at the counter and he [the robber] grabbed hold of her around the neck and held a knife to her. He was saying give me the money.
“He saw me calling the police and came over to the counter holding the girl. He told me if I made the call he would slit her throat. I knew he couldn’t do that so I continued the call.
“He realised the police would come and got scared. He pushed the girl away and ran.”
The man fled the shop emptyhanded.
Mr Rana says the shop worker was left shaken, adding: “I feel scared it might happen again. We want him to be caught and for the police to deal with him. He’s not scared of anything.”
That afternoon the same man is believed to have struck at another Coral branch, this time in Fleetwood Avenue, Herne Bay. He again threatened staff and fled with cash at about 2.15pm.
Later the same day, shortly before 9pm, the Premier Express Mini Market in Godfrey Gardens, Chartham, was targeted.
Security worker Roger Hogg had popped into the shop to buy coffees for his team when the raider walked in.
He put a knife to Mr Hogg’s neck and grabbed him in a headlock as Mr Hogg fell to the floor.
“He said something like ‘open the till or you’ll get slit’,” Mr Hogg said. “He had me in a headlock and the only thing I could do was to focus on the blade so I didn’t fall into it.”
Watching on CCTV from the nearby family home was Niro Thaya, whose uncle, Thushi Subra, owns the store and was working at the time.
Seeing his uncle and Mr Hogg in distress, he grabbed a vodka bottle and rushed to the shop to confront the robber, who ran off empty handed.
Mr Subra said: “This man just came in and asked me to give him all the money from the till or he would stab my customer. He had a knife and he had this customer by the neck.
“I was worried, but before I gave him any money my nephew intervened. He is a hero.”
Dad- of- two Mr Hogg, 29, added: “My six-year-old son is always in and out of the shop. If he had been in the shop at the time the man could have held the knife up to him.
“It was the most petrifying thing I have ever experienced. All that was going through my mind was I didn’t want to be stabbed and I wanted to get home and see my girlfriend.
“Mr Thaya saved my life. I’m definitely going round with a card and chocolates to say thank you.”
DCI Luke Dodson, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, says witnesses described the man as having a ginger beard and wearing a motorcycle helmet and puffer jacket.
“I urge people to cast their minds back to the days in question,” he said. “Did you see a man matching that description, either wearing or carrying the crash helmet, at any of the locations, or travelling between them?
“Any information, however