Two raids in three days reveal threats shopkeepers face

WHEN Gurmail Singh died on February 20 this year, it was the second time in three days his shop was targeted by robbers.

Only 48 hours before the fatal raid, Mr Singh was punched and had his turban knocked off by two youths wearing masks, gloves and hooded jackets.

One was a 17-year-old A-level student, who could not be named for legal reasons when he was sentenced to six months' detention for robbery in April.

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The other attacker remains at large, although a third youth, 18-year-old Spencer Julien, of North Rise, Fartown, Huddersfield, was given a 12-month referral order last month after admitting planning the robbery.

Although Mr Singh was the victim on both occasions, the raids do not appear to have been linked.

Shopkeepers in Huddersfield have responded by drawing up a petition, calling on the Government to impose tougher sentences and to provide greater support and protection for retailers.

Thousands of people have signed the petition, which organisers intend to present to David Cameron.

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Balbir Singh Uppal, who started the campaign, said: "There are lots of shopkeepers from the Asian community and, if it could happen to Gurmail, it could happen to anybody.

"Not all people are as passive as he was; he was the last person you would expect to retaliate in a situation like that.

"But anybody in the business would say they have to continue. If one gets deterred by an incident like that, it is in some ways encouraging more."

Inderpal Randhawa, a friend of Mr Singh's and general secretary of Huddersfield's Sikh Temple Committee, said police had been slow to respond to incidents at his Manchester Road shop.

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"Eight years ago, a boy and a girl came into my shop during the daytime and, suddenly, the boy pulled out a two-foot knife and the girl produced some sticks. I was there with my son, who was seven or eight, and the boy asked me to give him the money from the till.

"I confronted the boy and asked my son to get me a knife. He came back with a two-inch knife for chopping vegetables, which was useless, but the robbers ran off.

"The police took half an hour to come to my shop, which was very late for something that serious, and although they eventually found the people, I never heard anything about what happened to them.

"Less than two years ago, a boy came in and beat my paperboy. When I went to stop him, he started fighting with me. A customer helped me and we were able to keep the boy in the shop while we rang the police.

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"It took 35 minutes for the police to arrive. During that time, the customer couldn't leave the front of the shop in case the boy escaped, and I couldn't serve anyone."

Kirklees Council and West Yorkshire Police joined forces earlier this year to set up a hotline for retailers.

Yorkshire Independent Grocers' Association chairman Andrew Wilby said: "These people are community servants looking after the interests of the public and they're faced with all sorts of risks.

"They pay their dues, their business rates and their other taxes and it's time that the Government looked after them."

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