A brave shop worker fought off two armed masked men with a shoe and a glass jar after they attempted to rob his service station in Westhoughton on Saturday.
The victim was an employee at Mercury Service Station on Manchester Road when he was approached by two men armed with a knife at around 1.20am.
He took off his shoe and grabbed a glass jar in an attempt to fight the thugs off and one of the offenders repeatedly prodded him in the arm with the blade.
The offenders then backed off and fled empty handed and the victim had 12 stitches after suffering two puncture wounds to his arm.
Detective Constable Malcolm Cheetham said: “This man’s heroic actions meant that these thieves were able to get away empty handed, but for his trouble he was wounded.
“We will do all we can to find the men responsible.
“We are appealing for witnesses but in particular we need to hear from the woman who walked in only moments before but didn’t stick around to give the police her account – probably because she was so shaken up.”
Both of the offenders were black men. The man with the knife was about 6ft tall, of medium build and in his early to mid-20s. His accomplice was about 5ft 9in tall and of medium build.
Officers are appealing to find a woman who walked into the store seconds before the incident and is likely to have witnessed the whole encounter.
DC Cheetham added: “We need to find out everything that she may have heard or seen, including before the robbery. We urge her to get in touch as soon as possible.”
Anyone with any information should call police on 0161 856 1527 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Picture courtesy of GMP via Flickr, with thanks.
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