Old Men Fight Off Robbers

[Blindside]

It says one of them (the first one) got stabbed.

[zin0]

He got hit with that blade right in the face

[kellyhound]

A 60-year-old who runs an off-licence in East London thwarted an attempted robbery by physically taking on two knife-wielding men. Severely injured in the melee, he was admitted to a hospital, but has since been discharged.

The incident happened on March 21 at about 5.40 pm. Two hooded men, armed with knifes, baseball bats and a handgun, entered the East London Wine in Shrewsbury Road, Forest Gate, demanding “everything from the till.” The shopkeeper, who has run the family business for almost four decades , was unfazed and resisted the youth.

Balu Patel, 67, a mechanic and a regular customer who was visiting the store, joined forces with his friend, grabbing a hammer from his toolbox, and took on the attackers, prompting them to flee empty-handed.

Patel told Evening Standard: “Blood was running like a shower — I had to step in. I’d just come from work and had my toolbox with me so I grabbed it and went in.

“They were going to kill him. I saw my friend on the floor and it looked like one of them pulled out a gun — they were wrestling over it.

“One of them started punching me in the face, the chest, the head… I thought I was going to die too.”

Both were severely beaten with baseball bats. The shopkeeper was also slashed across the face and left covered in blood. However, his injuries were deemed non-life-threatening and non life-changing by the medical staff at an east London hospital.

The shopkeeper told his family that his turban helped protect him from the blows, reported the daily. His brother thanked Patel for his timely help and called for the arrest of culprits.

“Balu’s a hero, no doubt about it. It’s natural for him to help people and I do believe he saved my brother’s life.

“The police need to catch the idiots who did this and put them away for a proportionate time. These monsters don’t deserve to be on the streets, not just for my brother but for society.”

The Met’s Flying Squad is investigating the incident but there have been no arrests yet.