Poole shop worker fights off robber brandishing syringe

A Dorset shop worker threatened by a robber with a syringe said he fought him off by throwing bottles at him and hitting him with a sign.

The worker, who did not want to be named, was opening up at Premier Stores in High Street in Poole on Monday.

He said the robber demanded money and cigarettes before trying to stab him twice with the syringe.

He then ran off empty-handed after the shop worker hit him in the face with a newspaper A-board.

"I said to him 'I don't have any money because I haven't opened the shop yet'," he said.

He was afraid the robber would stab him with the syringe so he got bottles down from the shelf and threw them at him until he "backed away".

The robber, described as white and in his 30s and having a limp, ran off down Carters Lane. Dorset Police are appealing for witnesses.