Courageous shopkeeper who stood up to schoolboy knife thugs stealing from his store

Stabbed: Shopkeeper Mo Shah was wounded after chasing two boys who were allegedly trying to steal cigarettes from his store in Brighton

Attack: Mo Shah claims he was stabbed with an eight-inch knife as he chased two youths from his Preston Foods store

Weapon: Police found a knife in shrubbery in the pub garden

Arrest: Police detain a youth in a pub garden in Brighton following an incident in Mr Shah's store

This was the dramatic moment a shopkeeper's courage led to the arrest of a schoolboy thug.

Mo Shah was stabbed with an eight-inch knife as he tried to stop two youngsters from stealing cigarettes from his store.

They escaped, but, bleeding from his wound, he gave chase and cornered them in a pub garden until police arrived.

It was only then that he noticed the 4cm-deep wound in his arm.

The father of two said: 'I would do it all over again. We can't let these kids terrorise us.

'If I hadn't stood up to them they would think they could always get away with it and attack someone else.'

Mr Shah was stacking shelves in the back of Preston Foods, in the Fiveways area of Brighton, at 8am on Wednesday, when the two youngsters in school polo shirts began stuffing cigarettes into a rucksack.

Mr Shah, 30, grabbed one of the boys as they tried to escape.

He said: 'I had hold of one and that's when the other pulled out the knife.'

He told how the youth made stabbing motions with the blade and said: 'Let him go or I'm gonna kill you, I'm gonna stab you up.'

The thug then stabbed Mr Shah in the arm. 'I didn't feel it when I was stabbed,' he said
I think I was so pumped up with adrenaline and so angry all I could think about was making sure they didn't get away.'

The pair did manage to escape but Mr Shah followed them in his van.

They jumped over a fence and into a pub garden and he leapt in after them.

He continued: 'The one with the knife was making stabbing motions at me again.

'The other one punched me and I was fighting them both off.

'Eventually, I got the one with the knife down on the ground and sat on him until the police arrived.'

A witness said the boys, aged 13 and 15, were close to tears by the time they were put into the police van.

They were arrested on suspicion of robbery and grievous bodily harm.

The knife was recovered from the pub garden.

Only once the drama was over did Mr Shah notice he had been stabbed.

He said his pregnant wife, Rahima, 24, was now terrified it would happen again.

He added: 'She was shocked, she was in tears. You just don't expect this sort of thing to happen in the morning, and with schoolchildren.'

A Sussex Police spokesman said: ‘Two teenagers were quickly arrested by police following a robbery at a convenience store in Preston Drove, Brighton, during which the shopkeeper was attacked.
The incident happened at about 8.45am yesterday morning at Preston Foods when two youths entered the store and stole cigarettes.

‘Police were alerted and just minutes after the incident they arrested a 15-year-old youth and a 13-year-old youth - who are both from Brighton - on suspicion of robbery and GBH.

‘Both were questioned and have been released on police bail until the end of this month pending further enquiries.’