The wife of a shop-owner today told how she tackled three masked thugs who stabbed her husband in a terrifying raid on their off-licence in north London.
The victim, a 24-year-old graduate called Katal, was knifed in the stomach and slashed across his arms after refusing to hand over cigarettes and cash to the teenage robbers.
His young wife, who asked not to be named, rushed to the front door of Crouch End Hill Food and Wine to confront the gang after hearing her husband’s screams.
She said: “I wasn’t thinking whether the same would happen to me, I was just thinking of my husband. There was so much blood.
“I was hitting one of the men and pushing him away from my husband. He had blood all over him. I thought it would never end and I did not know what would happen to him.
“I saw something silver but did not realise straight away it was knife. I wasn’t even thinking. I was just punching, kicking and hitting as hard as I could. I was so scared for my husband.
“I am still in shock. I never expected this kind of thing to happen here. Everytime I hear the shop door open now I fear the worst. They were punching him so hard in his stomach, but in their hands they had knives. I can’t get that out of my mind.”
The three assailants fled empty handed towards Crouch End Broadway. Katal was taken to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead where he was placed on emergency resuscitation.
The family has owned the shop for two years and relatives have been posted on the door around the clock as a deterrent against further attacks.
Katal’s cousin Huseyin was on his way to visit the shop when he saw the street cordoned off by police.
He said: “When I got there were police cars and ambulances everywhere. My heart began racing because I could see where most of the cars and ambulances were parked.
“I ran over there. Someone tried to stop me but I got through. I could just see loads of blood on the pavement outside Katal’s shop.
“I didn’t know what to do. I was frozen. I feared the worst. I tried to get through to his mum, his wife, I even tried calling him, but I couldn’t reach anyone.
“I thank God he’s alive, but I don’t know what this will mean for his future. The whole family is in shock.
“After what has happened we can’t keep running to the police. We have to defend ourselves.”
Police are appealing for witnesses to the raid at 5pm on Sunday.
