Hero gran, 82, fights off shop robber by bashing him with her walking stick
A FEISTY 82-year-old shopkeeper fought off a robber — by whacking him with her walking stick.
June Turner was behind the till when the thug burst in hiding his face under a blanket.
But the grandma of three saw him off by repeatedly hitting him with her walking stick.
She was knocked to the ground and left with a black eye before the robber fled with just £50 and six packets of cigarettes.
June, who uses the stick after breaking her hip three years ago, said: “I went hell for leather on him.
‘YOU’RE NOT HAVING MY MONEY’
“I think he was quite shocked. He wasn’t expecting that. I bet he thought, ‘She’s getting on a bit’.”
The robbery was caught on CCTV at AJ and J Newsagents in Hanley, Staffs. June, who has worked there for 45 years, said: “He came up to the counter and said, ‘I want your money’ but I said, ‘You’re not having my money’. He came round the back of the counter and got some money from the till.
“I couldn’t find the panic button so I got my stick and I really belted him with it.
“It was just instinct to try to stop him and give him a good whack.
“He pushed me to the floor and I was worried in case I broke my hip as I had a replacement a few years ago and I didn’t want to go through that again. And then he rushed out like the clappers.”
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June was stuck on the floor until a regular customer came in and called police and paramedics.
A metal bar, which the robber might have dropped, was later recovered but June was back serving customers within half an hour.
She said: “If it happened again I’d react the same but with something heavier.”
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