Uninformed foreign shopkeepers easy targets

ON TUESDAY night at 7pm I went to a shop in Ottery Road, Ottery, to buy ice and a newspaper. While in the shop, I saw smoke coming from Ottery Superette, on the corner of Humby and Ottery roads.

A young man said to me the ATM had been blown up there. Inside the shop was chaos, and standing amid all this were three Indian/Pakistani shopkeepers, one of whom had injuries to his right arm and head. I told them to come out of their shop as this was a crime scene.

I then asked them and the bystanders, who were increasing every second, if anyone had phoned the police. I got one of the bystanders to phone but could not get through. At that moment the chairman of the Ottery Gardens Neighbourhood Watch and a colleague arrived, and they managed to get the police and fire department to the scene.

What horrified me was that the shopkeeper told me that about six men with firearms had come into the shop, told the staff and some shoppers to lie on the ground and in this confined space blew up the ATM.

This is not the first time I have arrived at a robbery scene where there are foreign owners – they do not know what to do when they are victims of robberies.

I propose that the police, in conjunction with their community police forums, compile a pamphlet in the relevant Indian/Pakistani languages, telling these owners what to do should they become victims of serious armed robberies.

Currently their lack of knowledge of what to do gives the criminals precious getaway minutes. KEITH BLAKE Ottery