Shopkeeper praised for bringing armed offender to justice

Nottinghamshire Police has praised a shopkeeper for his tenacious effort to bring an armed offender at his store to justice.

The owner of the B Mart Xpress store on Sandy Lane in Worksop, first fought off the offender, Adrian Fowler of The Croft, Worksop, during an attempted robbery, and then rang the police when he saw the culprit two days later outside the shop, leading to his arrest.

Detective Constable Ben Grainger who led the investigation said: “We’d like to praise the shopkeeper who was incredibly brave during the incident and throughout the court proceeding.”

Fowler was given an 18-months prison sentence, suspended for 18-months, last week. He also had to pay £149 compensation to the victim.

The incident happened on 12 July 2019, with Fowler entering the store armed with a metal bar and a knife.

As he forced his way behind the counter shouting for the contents of the till, the shopkeeper pressed the panic alarm and grappled with the offender.

The owner’s wife walked in as her husband shouted to call the police, which made Fowler run away empty-handed.

The shopkeeper suspected the offender as a former customer who lived in the area, and two days later, he saw the man standing outside his shop and rang the police.

Fowler he was arrested after the CCTV footage showed that he was wearing the similar trainers at the scene of the crime.