Armed robber scared off by little girl throwing loaf of bread at him

‘I cannot praise enough the bravery of the father and daughter who intervened,’ detective says

An 11-year-old girl scared off an armed robber by throwing a loaf of bread at him.

The masked man barged into a convenience shop in Worthing, West Sussex, on Monday night. Then he pulled out a knife and ordered a member of staff to empty the till.

But his robbery attempt was foiled when a young girl and her father, who were customers, threw bottles of squash and a loaf of bread at him.

After one last unsuccessful attempt to grab cash from the till, the man fled empty handed from the Express Supermarket.

Police investigating the botched robbery praised the girl for her bravery.

“I cannot praise enough the bravery of the father and daughter who intervened in this knifepoint attempted robbery," said Detective Constable Noel Simmonds, of Sussex Police.

“There are considerable risks any time a knife is used or brandished and whilst it is tempting to just view the spectacle of an armed robber fleeing in panic from a young girl, if the suspect is not caught he may try again and next time someone could be seriously hurt.

“We need to identify the suspect as quickly as possible so we are asking people to view the CCTV footage and stills and to please get in touch with us if you know who this is or have any information about the incident.”

No one was harmed during the incident, police said before describing the suspect as white, slim, about 5ft 8ins and wearing a green Nike hooded jacket with the hood up, a black baseball cap, blue jeans and green Adidas POD trainers.

A scarf covered his face and he was wearing gloves.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police online or by calling 101, reference 1520 of 16/09.