Store thief threatens owner with 12in knife

A SHOPKEEPER today spoke of his terror after being held up by an armed thief wielding a 12-inch knife in the second robbery at his store this year.

Muzzamil Malik was forced to hand over hundreds of pounds from his till to a robber wearing a Balaclava who repeatedly threatened to kill him.

Now the 31-year-old has said he is considering selling his store amid fears that he would not escape unhurt next time.

In January, a brazen thief was caught on CCTV rifling through the till of Mr Malik's convenience store on Niddrie Mains Road while he was in the shop's bathroom.

The latest robbery took place at 5.50am on Sunday just after the married father-of-two had opened up the premises.

Mr Malik said: "I was the only person working in the shop and there was a customer bringing her shopping to the counter when this man came in.

"He was wearing a Balaclava and had a rucksack over his shoulder. He pulled out a knife which was 12 inches long and looked like it was a butcher's knife. He told me to put all the money in the rucksack and kept swearing at me, saying, 'I'm going to kill you, honest to God, I'm going to kill you'.

"I started putting all the 20 notes in the rucksack then he wanted the 10s, 5s and then the pound coins. I was trying to take a long time because I had already pushed the panic alarm and was waiting for the police.

"He had the knife extended across the counter at the level with my throat. It was only about eight to ten inches away from me and I definitely believe he could have used it.

"He ran out of the shop and I ran out after him. Outside a police car had arrived and I pointed to where he had gone."

Mr Malik studied law at the University of Edinburgh before opening his own business after being unable to secure a law job upon graduation.

Mr Malik, who has owned the MVC Your Local Store for only 18 months, said: "I only started the business as an alternative to a job in the legal profession, but now I'm thinking about quitting. If anything happens to me, there is no one else to support my family. I have no relatives in the country and I have nothing to leave my wife or daughters.

"I have all the security in the shop I could need but I am still worried this could happen again. I don't know how this has happened to me twice now.

"I dread to think what might happen if my children were in the store at the time something like this happened."

The thief who struck in January made off with cash and 50 packets of cigarettes from the shop, as well as a portable DVD player belonging to his baby daughter.

A police spokesman said a 25-year-old man had been arrested and charged in connection with an alleged robbery on Sunday.