This is the terrifying moment masked thieves brazenly barged into a village shop and tied up female staff with cable ties before jumping over the counter and raiding the store.
Shocking footage shows two balaclava-clad men running into the shop in Etwall, Derbyshire before a woman is dragged across the tile floor and held down.
The crime incident
One thief is seen passing cable ties to the other who has terrified the shopkeeper into staying on the ground.
The video then cuts to show the thugs leaping over the counter and ransacking the shelves at speed.
‘They tied up my hands and my feet and left me there for five minutes and then they jumped over and nicked all the stock,’ store manager Abbie Saville told ITV News.
‘People think you just work in a shop and it’s not dangerous – but it is, it does get dangerous.’
When questioned about challenging the thieves, the shopkeeper said: ‘Never do it, until you experience trauma like this do not go back at them, let them take whatever.
‘Stock can be replaced but your life can’t.’
Police reports
Derbyshire Police said a man was charged, pleaded guilty to the robbery and appeared at Derby Crown Court in August 2018 where he was jailed for 72 months.
A second man was also charged with the same offence but no evidence was found and the case was dropped.
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New figures by the shop workers union USDAW reveal half of retail staff have no confidence that reporting serious abuse to the police will have an impact, according to ITV News.
Victim impact statement
London store manager Yasmin Mohamed said: ‘We’re here to earn a living not to experience the threat we have to go through. The abuse whether it’s physical or emotional, none of us deserve this.
‘The police response is not as great as it should be. When the police come it feels as if the retail workers are not the priority.’
Britain’s £1billion shoplifting epidemic has led to a major spike in demand for security guards as retail chains crackdown on thieves and abusive thugs.
Phil Bentley, boss of outsourcer Mitie, said he had seen revenues jump due to the need for security guards.
