A young shopkeeper paid with his life when he refu
A young shopkeeper paid with his life when he refused to hand over
a wad of cash to a brutal knifeman.
Sundip Shah, who ran a corner store single-handed for the owner,
died from a vicious stab wound to the neck.
In the loyal 27-year-old’s pocket was more than pnds stlng 800 of
his employer’s cash, which he had bravely kept from his attacker.
Two shoppers later identified Carl Anthony, 26, as the knifeman,
said Mr.
David Paget, prosecuting.
He denies murder, claiming he is the victim of mistaken identity.
The Old Bailey was told today Monday a regular customer, Mrs
Franca Lofts, had walked into the shop on Green Lanes, Stoke
Newington, to find a man threatening Mr Shah.
She immediately ran to a neighbouring shop to summon help.
But vital seconds were lost when the first person she found did
not speak English.
By the time the manager was summoned and the police were called,
the knifeman had probably already inflicted the fatal wound, the court
was told.
Mrs Lofts returned to the shop, where Mr Shah was bleeding
heavily from the neck.
He had also been punched in the face by the robber and had
fended off at least one knife blow with his arm.
She later identified the attacker as Anthony, said Mr Paget.
While Mrs Lofts had been summoning help, another regular customer
had walked in and witnessed the tail end of the fatal clash.
Lisa Dillon remembered seeing the man walking from the Burma Road
Estate a few minutes before.
She too picked out Anthony on an identity parade.
It was only then
that she realised she had met him fleetingly several years before.
As the knifeman fled, the two women and others tended Mr Shah until
help arrived.
Despite the best efforts of emergency services, Mr Shah was dead on
arrival at hospital.
Pnds Stlng 825 of his employer’s money was still in his pocket, the
jury heard.
Jobless Anthony, of Beatty Road, Stoke Newington, was arrested
six days after the February 6 stabbing this year.
The trial continues tomorrow Tuesday.
ENDS
