A Portslade newsagent has been robbed at knifepoint for the second time this year.
On both occasions, the frightened shop assistants fled – but this time, they did first attempt to put up a fight armed with a hockey stick.
Police today launched an appeal into the latest raid, in which a masked man entered Laylands News in Laylands Road on Sunday at 9.40pm and demanded cash was put into a bag which he threw at the shop worker behind the counter.
He then went behind the counter where a tussle ensued. The shop worker attempted to prevent the robbery using a hockey stick, before he climbed over the counter and ran out of the shop.
The suspect is believed to have stolen items including three large bottles of Ouzo, two bottles of liqueur and a quantity of cigarettes.
He is described as a white man of stocky build, wearing a dark blue hoody with a white zip and white logo on the left breast, dark jeans with a gold or yellow AJ logo on the rear right pocket, and dark trainers with a white trim.
He entered the store wearing a balaclava, a black glove on his left hand only, and carrying a knife in his right hand.
No one was harmed during the incident.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk or call 101, quoting serial 1294 of 15 May.
Alternatively, you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 (www.crimestoppers-uk.org).
The newsagents was previously robbed by two men on the evening of Monday, February 15, with cash, cigarettes and alcohol taken.
A 23-year-old man from Rochester in Kent, was arrested on suspicion of robbery and possession of a knife in a public place in connection with the February raid and has been bailed until 1 June pending further enquiries.
