Robber ousted from dairy

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 6

Robber ousted from dairy

By

NEIL CLARKSON

Robbers continued their poor record at Marian’s Dairy on Tuesday evening with yet another being ousted from the premises by staff. The robber, carrying a knife and wearing a balaclava, backed off when the man behind the counter brandished a long wooden baton. Two years ago a robber dressed in a Ninja outfit also fled emptyhanded, but not before a staff member managed to kick him between the legs. Mrs Marlene Duncan, the proprietor of the dairy in Colombo Street, Beckenham, for the last years, said she had only just left the counter about 9 p.m. on Tuesday

when the robber entered. She said a friend of her son, who wishes to remain anonymous, was out the back playing on a computer game and offered to man the counter for a few minutes. “He went out to serve and this guy said ‘Give me your money.’ “We have rather a long baton kept behind the counter and he grabbed that. When the guy saw it he ran out of the shop.” Mrs Duncan said the shop’s two video cameras were working at the time of the robbery and the tapes have been given to the police. Each camera covers half the shop and one also shows those outside the 24-hour dairy. Mrs Duncan said she opened the

dairy 24 hours a day not long after taking over the business and security measures were introduced at that time. Robbery was a fear for any shop owner, she said. "We take a few precautions and they have paid off.” Little cash was kept on the premises, with security staff calling regularly to take money from the cash register. Detective Senior-Sergeant Colin Dalzell said the man sought is European, aged 28 to 30. He was of medium build and between 173 cm (sft Bin) and 178 cm (sft lOin) tall. He wore a black balaclava, black woollen jersey and jeans.