Newsagent tells of knife raid terror (From Wiltshire Times)
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Newsagent tells of knife raid terror
11:47am Thursday 14th February 2008 in Corsham By Katie Adams
Jasvir Singh outside his shop
A KNIFE wielding robber stole charity boxes from a Corsham newsagent on Monday morning.
The incident happened in the Barnett Brothers store at around 7.50am when a man walked into the shop and warned staff and customers that he had a knife, before taking the weapon out of his inside pocket.
Owner Jasvir Singh was behind the counter at the time.
He said: "He just walked in and said he had a knife.
"Then he pulled out what looked like a six-inch knife from his pocket.
"One of the charity boxes he took was for Dorothy House and the other was for Mansion House.
"It's not like there was even that much money inside.
"Probably only about £10, but that's not the point.
"It's the principle of it that is so sad. Those charities really need that money.
"I would have handed over £10 if it had meant he hadn't taken them."
Mr Singh, who has a child that attends Corsham playgroup Mansion House has been running the shop for the past eight years.
He said: "The customers in the shop at the time were quite shocked.
"No one said anything when he was here and I didn't have any way of protecting myself.
"I also wouldn't have had time to get round the other side of the counter and stop him anyway.
"He also tried to take a charity box for the RNIB, but it was chained down so he couldn't.
"I haven't been into Mansion House to tell them yet."
Mr Singh said the shop was sealed off for several hours after the incident while police investigated.
He plans to replace the boxes and start the collections again.
Sergeant Steve Cox said police from Chippenham, Corsham and Wootton Bassett had been drafted in to the inquiry on Monday morning, to help search for the suspect, who Mr Singh said could have been a teenager.
A police dog was also deployed to help with the search.
Sgt Cox said: "If anyone has any information we would like to hear from them."
Police can be contacted by calling 0845 408 7000.
