I fought off raiders after Fury’s signed boxing glove
A FUNDRAISER has told how he fought off knife-robbers who tried to steal sports memorabilia set to be auctioned off for charity – including a boxing glove signed by world heavyweight champ Tyson Fury.
Rob Topping, who runs Rob and his Angels, a community group set up during lockdown to provide meals for the needy, says three men tried to force their way into his Wilmslow home. The dad-oftwo says that after holding a knife to his chest, one of the gang shouted: “Get the Fury s***.”
Remarkably, Rob, 43, says he managed to fight the men off and they fled emptyhanded in a white van. Rob and a team of 40 volunteers have been delivering
1,400 meals a day to about 800 households in Wilmslow,
Handforth and Wythenshawe. To help fund the service, Wilmslowraised Fury signed a boxing glove to be auctioned off. England striker Marcus Rashford, originally from Wythenshawe, donated a signed United shirt.
Rob has been promoting the auction on Facebook and believes that’s how the robbers learned of the potentially valuable memorabilia.
He said: “I was waiting for a takeaway to be delivered when I heard a knock at the door. I answered it and thought ‘he hasn’t got any food.’ Before I knew it, two other guys came from behind the hedge and tried to force their way into the house. One of them stuck a knife in my chest and shouted ‘get the
Fury s***.’ It was just a blur after that. I just had it in my head that they cannot get in the house. I just did everything I could to stop them.”
Rob, who runs a property development company, says he suffered superficial wounds to his face and torso, including a cut from the knife. He said: “I’m shook up, but I’m okay. The wound on my chest is just a scratch. I feel lucky in a way because it could have been 10 times worse. Thank God my kids weren’t in the house because it would have traumatised them for life. It shows that some people just don’t care. They were trying to take away meals from people who have absolutely nothing. That’s the thing that disgusts me the most. But it won’t stop us.”
A spokesman for Cheshire Police said: “At 12.39pm on Tuesday we were called to report a robbery at a home in Wilmslow that is alleged to have occurred on Monday night.”