Preston shopkeeper threatened with Samurai sword (From Preston and Leyland Citizen)

Preston shopkeeper threatened with Samurai sword

3:10pm Monday 11th August 2008 in News By Nazia Parveen

Police are hunting a robber who threatened a shopkeeper with Samurai sword in Preston.

The man, who has been described as white and was wearing a Arab headdress, demanded cash from the till in the Mini Mart in Avenham Lane on Sunday, August 10 at 4.10pm.

The man, who wore a Keffiyah type Arab headdress concealing his identity, pulled a 12 inch Samurai from his tracksuit bottoms and pointed it at the shopkeeper's face.

The shopkeeper, a 44-year-old man from Pakistan, placed hundreds of pounds of notes on the counter which the robber stole and walked out of the shop down Frenchwood Street.

Det Insp Lee Halstead, of Preston Police, said: "He pulled out a 10 to 12 inch bladed sword, like a small Samurai sword.

"He asked the shopkeeper to empty the till, snatched the money and ran off.

"The man who owns the shop was really badly shaken. He had just recently bought it.”

The man is described as white, in his late twenties, 6ft tall, slim, with short scruffy brown hair.

He was wearing dark hooded top, and a white cotton scarf with triangular black patterns.

Police are studying CCTV.

Anyone with information should call Preston Police on 01772 203203 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.