A hero shopkeeper fought off a knife wielding robber - with a cardboard BOX.<br /><br />Soran Sharifi, 45, was behind the counter when an armed thug burst into his shop in Malvern, Worcs., and demanded cash.<br /><br />Soran refused to hand over any money and the thief pressed his knife against his chest while threatening to kill him. <br /><br />Quick-thinking Soran grabbed a nearby Evri parcel and used it as a shield to shove the robber back during the raid on August 26.<br /><br />The robber staggered backwards before hurling bottles of gin towards Soran.<br /><br />Kurdish Soran, who has lived in the UK for 15 years, said: “He come in and put on the <br />mask and I can just see the eyes. <br /><br />“I know him, but I think he’s drunk and wants to get beer as he walked towards the fridge. <br /><br />“He starts coming to with this big knife. He took out the knife and said open the till. <br /><br />“I said no, he said he was going to kill me. He told me to open it again. He put the <br />knife towards my chest. <br /><br />“I thought at that moment how to defend myself. There was a box parcel for collection. <br /><br />“I was thinking how can I best protect myself as he had the knife. I don’t have any training. <br /><br />“I noticed this box was quite heavy, like 10kg. <br /><br />"I defended myself. I hit him and he lost control. He went back 3m and he got shocked. <br /><br />“I picked up the parcel and used it to make him lose control. He was pushed back two or three metres. I used it to push him back. <br /><br />“This time I was thinking how to defend myself, that’s it. I have no training. <br /><br />“He took a bottle of golden gin and tried to smash it on my face. It cut my hand. <br /><br />“He's come again and tried to smash another bottle on my face. He said open the till again. <br /><br />“I told him, “I know you, if you want to fight, let’s fight.” <br /><br />Soran reckons he knows his attacker and says unnamed locals have helped to try and identify who he thinks it is. <br /><br />He managed to overpower the knife wielding thug and chase him with the heavy parcel, but ultimately let him go when he realised he didn’t need to follow him. <br /><br />Soran said: “He attacked me five times and I got into a fight with him. At the end of it I recognised him with his eyes that he was a customer of my store. <br /><br />“When I said ‘I know you, he ran away’. I know him very well but I didn’t know his name. <br /><br />“I picked up the parcel and he’s ran away. I said I don’t need to follow him, I know him, I find him. <br /><br />“The police came and took evidence and details. “<br /><br />A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said: “Police responded to a call of an attempted robbery of a commercial property on Worcester Road in Malvern around 7.55pm on Saturday, August 26.<br /><br />“The offender entered the shop with a knife and demanded cash. This was unsuccessful and the offender left empty handed. <br /><br />"Enquiries are ongoing to locate the offender. The victim suffered minor injuries.”
