A shopkeeper has told of his terrifying ordeal after he struggled with a balaclava-clad gunman and foiled an attempted hold-up.

Kashmir Singh, 31, was behind the counter when the 16-year-old robber burst in and pointed a gun at his face demanding money from the till.

He said it was the second time the robber had targeted the store, having previously escaped with £1,800 in cash just five days earlier.

He said: " It was scary, but it all happened very quickly and what I did was in the heat of the moment.

"I pressed the panic button and then grabbed hold of him, he tried to run and hit me on the head with the gun.

"I managed to pull off his balaclava and with my other hand push the gun in the air. I was determined he wouldn't escape, but I was desperate for the police to come."

The police eventually arrived and arrested the teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Mr Singh, who has run his shop in Salisbury Road, Grays, for six years, was taken to Basildon Hospital where he received nine stitches for a head wound.

The schoolboy attacker has been given a two-year detention and training order for the crime.

Published Tuesday July 20, 2004

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