Man tells of knife terror in city shop

Mohammed Sharif was stacking a shelf with sweets at J&N News in Causewayside when he felt a knife pressed against the back of his neck.

The 35-year-old managed to grab the seven-inch breadknife and wrestle with the thug who eventually fled empty handed.

The father-of-one, from Saughton, then chased the thief through neighbouring streets before catching him with the help of two passers-by.

Mr Sharif, who has just received a bravery award from Lothians and Borders Police for his heroism, said: "It was early in the afternoon and the shop was completely empty.

"I was refilling the shelf in front of the counter when the next thing I felt was a knife on the back of my neck and a gruff voice shouting 'give me the money'.

"I couldn't see him and I hadn't even heard him come in the shop. But even though I knew he had a knife, I just instinctively reached around and grabbed his hand.

"By then, I could tell that it was a big blade. He was carrying a kitchen knife that must have been at least seven inches long. I was shocked and frightened but I tried to wrestle it out of his hand and eventually, when he dropped it, he ran out of the shop."

The robber, who had a pair of tights over his face, started running down Causewayside from the shop which is on the corner of West Preston Street.

Mr Sharif gave chase through the surrounding streets, which were packed with shoppers.

He added: "I didn't want him to get away, so I ran after him.

"I saw someone getting out of a car to see what was going on and called to him for help. We ran after the man and, eventually, caught up with him and managed to get him on the ground.

"There were quite a few people around at the time and another man came to help us keep the robber on the ground until the police came.

"When it was over, I went back to work and it was only then that I started to think about how dangerous it had been."

Mr Sharif's wife, Zahida, who was pregnant with their daughter Iman at the time, said that she had been "horrified".

She said: "He just called and said 'you're lucky to still have me'. I thought he was playing a joke at first, but I was horrified when I found out it was true.

He was very lucky not to have been injured or killed during the robbery.

"When you're six months pregnant, it's not the sort of phone call that you want to be getting. I was furious with him and couldn't believe he'd been so stupid."

The thief Callum Neil, 29, of West Preston Street, was eventually jailed for three years and nine months for holding the knife to Mr Sharif's neck during the raid in December 2005, despite his lawyer's claims it was a "cry for help" from a desperate alcoholic.

He also tried to avoid police questions by pretending he was a Buddhist monk and claimed he had taken a vow of silence.