Shop assistant faces knifeman months after hammer raid

A SHOP assistant has been robbed at knifepoint just months after he was the victim of a hammer- wielding thief.

Derek Cowan, 55, believes he is being specifically targeted – and even thinks the two robberies may have been carried out by the same person.

Police also believe that the man who robbed Mr Cowan last week at Glendevon Service Station in Winchburgh, West Lothian, returned two days later brandishing a knife but was unable to get into the garage.

Mr Cowan says he no longer feels safe working at the garage and is planning to take some time off after his ordeal.

He was forced to hand over 200 to the robber who threatened him with a ten-inch kitchen knife on Monday night, after having 63 stolen from him last August by a man brandishing a hammer.

Mr Cowan said: "A customer had just left around 10pm and within a minute of him leaving, this guy comes through the door.

"He had on a black jacket, black hat and a black scarf around his face. He had a plastic bag and he said to fill it with money.

"He pulled out a knife from inside his jacket and said 'no-one needs to get hurt' and I put up no resistance.

"I emptied the till into the bag but I was trying to delay things in case a customer came along."

Mr Cowan is convinced the man is the same one who robbed him before. He said: "What the man said to me was exactly the same as what the guy in August said. I think it's the same man."

Two nights later, Mr Cowan locked the door behind a customer who left at 10:30pm.

He heard a bump against the door and saw a man also dressed in black with a knife, but fortunately he was unable to get in.

Mr Cowan added: "You start to think, is this personal? Other people work in the shop but this has only happened to me. I don't feel safe working here."

Kannon Kanadasingam, contract manager at the garage, said his employee had done the "right thing". He added "We are working with the police and I hope this will be stopped."

Police said no-one had been charged in connection with the August robbery and are appealing for witnesses to either of the incidents which happened this week to get in touch.

A force spokesman said: "Police are investigating two incidents that have happened at Glendevon Service Station in Winchburgh in the past week, possibly involving the same suspect.

"Anyone who was in the area of Glendevon Service Station at around the time of each of these incidents, who noticed anyone acting suspiciously there, should contact police immediately."

The suspect is 5ft 6ins to 5ft 8ins, wearing a black jacket and jeans, with a scarf over his face, a hat and dark gloves.