Man attacked confronting armed robber at shop near Sheffield

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Terry Fieldhouse, aged 52, suffered a head injury after being struck with a glass bottle when he challenged an armed robber in his shop '“ TC's Mini Mart in Catcliffe '“ last night.

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He walked into his Brinsworth Road shop, which also houses Catcliffe Post Office, and found the robber behind the counter threatening his son, Oliver, 20, who was working.

The robber was brandishing a knife.

The raid came just one day after Oliver was threatened with a broken bottle in another armed robbery at the shop, in which cash and cigarettes were stolen.

Terry, who was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to hospital, has vowed to keep his store open.

'The minute you close your shop, they have won. We won't be doing that. We've worked too hard to let these people win,' he said.

Terry said when he spotted the robber behind the counter he spun him around, not knowing whether the crook was armed '“ to be faced with a knife.

'I had no idea what he was armed with, I just saw him behind the counter where Oliver was. He had his back to me so I spun him round so that he was facing me and not Oliver and that's when I saw the knife,' he said.

'All I could think about was protecting Oliver after the robbery the night before.

'During all the commotion he grabbed a spirit bottle and hit me over the head. There was blood everywhere.'

Panic alarms were sounded during the raid and police officers, including armed response, arrived at the scene and detained the culprit, who was also taken to hospital with injuries sustained during the raid.

'These robberies are happening too often and I hope this sends a message out that we are not an easy target. We will protect ourselves and what we have,' said Terry.

'We have all the security measures in place that you could possibly think of but unfortunately we live in a society when people think they can just take what they want. Why don't people get a job?

'The courts also need to hand out longer sentences for offences like this where lives are put at risk by people not bothered who they hurt as long as they get money.'

He said his two younger children and wife witnessed the aftermath of the terrifying incident.

'Those involved in these kinds of raids do not realise the impact they have on so many people,' he said.

'This one needs to be locked away for a long time.'

In April 2017, a man was jailed for seven years for his part in an armed raid at the same store in which a machete and hunting knife were brandished.

Jamie John Wild, then 25 and of Westminster Crescent, Lodge Moor, was among three men who brandished the weapons and threatened Terry's wife, Caroline, before escaping with £200 after forcing their way into the till.

Wild pleaded guilty to robbery.

A 32-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of two counts of robbery.

Anyone with information should call South Yorkshire Police on 101.