Robbery ordealthat ended in stabbing
Abby Saleem was aged just 19 when he was stabbed in the back at his work.
His family had moved to Hamilton from Annan after they were“ripped off”in a business deal.
That left them living in a council house with nothing.
But that didn’t stop Abby and his dad, Mohammed, grafting to get together money for another opportunity.
Once they had some money, they took a gamble on a shop in Hamilton.
Working to get it off the ground, they were sleeping on the floor at a family friend’s house.
Finally opening in December 1989, tragedy struck just days after they started trading.
Abby said:“It was a Saturday just after Christmas. These guys came in for a big carry out and we ended up giving them a free can or two.
“They came back in later that night, but the shop was busy. They walked back out and dad said‘they’re up to something’.
“He went round to the shop floor and two seconds later the door burst open and one of them had a knife at dad’s throat.
“He was demanding money and I said he could have it, no worries. I turned to get money from the till when I heard a commotion with dad.
“A guy jumped the counter and stabbed me in the back, then just lifted the till and ran out. He had tried to slit dad’s throat but dad managed to hit his hand and he ended up slashing his face.
“That’s why I’m so worried for my staff. Petty crime can escalate really quickly. I don’t want them to feel scared coming into their work.”
Abby’s nightmare was just beginning, with paramedics on strike at the time of his attack. He was finally taken to hospital after CID arrived and an ambulance driver blue-lighted him to A&E.
He was stabbed to the side of his spine, with the knife narrowly missing his heart and piercing his lung.
It took months for him to recover and he went from 13st to 7st whilst being kept in intensive care.