Shop owner terrorised

A shop owner hasn't slept properly for a week after a threat to have his "head smacked in" by a robber wielding a cricket bat.

It was business as usual for the Racecourse Dairy owner who opened the doors on Sunday, January 13, at 7.30am.

About an hour later, the shop owner, who did not want to be named, said a man carrying a cricket bat came into the Sockburn dairy and demanded all the money that was in the till.

Police believe this incident could be linked to the robbery of the Halswell Convenience Store, about 4.20pm on Tuesday, where a man demanded money and frightened the shop assistant with a hammer.

The wife of the Racecourse Dairy owner said: "He told my husband to give him all the money. He told him to put it all in this bag or I will smack your head in. He was horrified and did what the man told him to do. There wasn't a lot of money because it was still quite early in the day when it happened. He took off with about $200 - it was just the day's float. He doesn't like to talk about it because he is still terrified."

In a desperate bid to catch the thief, the shop owner chased the offender along Racecourse Rd, but stopped after he jumped over fences between Racecourse Rd and Epsom Rd.

Both dairy robbers were about 1.75m tall, European, of slim build, in his late teens or early 20s with short peroxide-blonde hair.

The Racecourse Dairy robber was wearing a grey hooded top, black pants and carrying a cricket bat, while in the second incident the robber was wearing a dark hoody, blue pants, a black scarf and carrying a hammer.

She struggled to understand why people do this sort of thing.

"It's so silly. I just don't understand why he did this. It's given us such a fright and now we are very scared. Hopefully the police catch him. My husband is still in shock and can't sleep properly at night because of what happened. He is still so frightened. It's an awful feeling."

The dairy was also robbed in July 2009, after a man carrying a knife demanded money.