VIDEO UPDATE: Shocking CCTV released of man threatening Melton shop owner with axe in armed robbery

A shop owner who struck with an axe during an armed robbery in Melton yesterday (Wednesday) has released shocking CCTV footage of the attack to the Melton Times.

A man wearing a mask and gloves and carrying the implement threatened assistant Sue Thomas and demanded money from the till at the Craven Street Stores.

Ann Sage, who owns the business with husband Richard, was then struck as she tried to intervene.

Mr Sage, who wasn’t in the shop at the time, told the Melton Times: “The man jumped over the counter and threatened my member of staff with an axe.

“He swore at her and made her open the till and when my wife went to intervene he hit her with the axe and knocked her to the floor.

“It was a very traumatic experience for both of them.”

The man made off with cash from the till.

Mr Sage said he took his wife to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham to have a wound treated in her head.

Police outside Craven Street Stores. Photo: Jonathan McGrady/JM News.Police outside Craven Street Stores. Photo: Jonathan McGrady/JM News.
Police outside Craven Street Stores. Photo: Jonathan McGrady/JM News.

He was the victim of an armed robbery around 15 years ago when a man threatened staff with a gun at the store’s post office.

He added: “We opened as normal today because we can’t let that scumbag win. We have to get back to a normal routine. We’re a corner shop and we’ve been part of the community here for 30 years.”

The suspect is described as white, around 6ft tall, of muscular build and between 20 and 35-years-old.

Police are investigating the incident, which took place around 5.16pm, and a similar robbery which took place five minutes earlier nearby at the One Stop Shop in Grange Drive, where a man carrying an axe also demanded money.

Police outside Craven Street Stores - Photo: Jonathan McGrady/JM News.Police outside Craven Street Stores - Photo: Jonathan McGrady/JM News.
Police outside Craven Street Stores - Photo: Jonathan McGrady/JM News.

He fled empty-handed when he was chased from the premises, leaving the scene in a car which was parked nearby.

The man was said to be white, between 5ft 10ins and 6ft 2ins tall, between 25 and 35-years-old, of average build and wearing a dark coloured top with blue jeans. No one was injured in this incident.

Detective Constable Anna Thorpe, who is investigating the robberies, said: “We are carrying out a number of enquiries in the area in order to establish the exact circumstances surrounding these two incidents and to locate those responsible.

“We are not ruling out the possibility that these robberies might be linked.”

Anyone who has any information about the incidents or knows who might be responsible is asked to contact police on 101, quoting incidents 528 and 536 of March 1.