Weymouth shopkeeper 'knocked knife out of robber's hand'

Police were called to near Broadwey Village Stores on Dorchester Road, Weymouth after 1pm on Saturday, July 24 after a man was seen with a knife.

The man entered the convenience store with the weapon and threatened and assaulted the shopkeeper and demanded he handed over money.

Kevin Kanthan, the store owner, knocked the knife out of the man’s hand and chased him out of the store as officers arrested him soon after.

The offender, William Thorne, 24, of Frome, Somerset, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday, October 26) and pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, criminal damage and possessing a knife blade or sharp pointed article in a public place.

Kevin Kanthan of Broadwey Village Stores, based off Dorchester Road, Weymouth, fought off a man who allegedly attempted to steal money from his shop. Picture: Dorset Echo/Michael Taylor

Mr Kanthan, who has owned the shop with his wife Nisha for two years, told how he was repairing a gate at the till area when the offender entered the store.

Mr Kanthan a father-of-two, said: “There was a person who came in and all of a sudden threw a bottle at the protective screen.

“When he entered, he said ‘give me money’.

“He just came at me with a big knife. I had to protect myself and I needed to protect my shop and family.

“I kicked him when he tried to stab me.

“I punched his hand to get him to drop the knife. He tried to punch my face and left hand and he punched my shoulder.

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Broadwey Village Stores, based off Dorchester Road, Weymouth. Picture: Dorset Echo/Michael Taylor

“I gave him a kick in a bad place on him and then he ran out of the shop. I chased him out of the shop.”

Mr Kanthan pressed the shop’s panic button and police officers soon arrived to arrest the assailant. Mr Kanthan sustained some bruising on his left cheek, pain in his shoulder and elbow.

While he felt ‘unlucky’ to have been assaulted, Mr Kanthan felt 'lucky' to be alive and was determined to defend his family business and home.

He said: “My family and I are really traumatised from this incident which we didn’t expect to happen in this area.

“My kids became really paranoid and they think he’s going to come and attack them.”

Broadwey Village Stores was temporarily closed for a few hours while police officers carried out investigations. When the store reopened, the Kanthan family was overwhelmed with flowers, cards and well wishes from customers and residents in the area.

Kevin and his wife Nisha thanked the community for their support following the incident

A clearly touched Mr Kanthan said: “The whole community around Broadwey and Upwey were asking us how we are and also giving us flowers and gifts. They are really supporting us.

“We would also like to say thank you to the local community for their support and kind words following what happened.”

Following the incident, Councillor Kevin Brookes paid tribute to the couple's resilience.

He said: "No one deserves this to happen to them and the justice of the law comes down that person.

"Knowing the owners, it does not surprise me that they dusted themselves off so to speak and opened up again after what happened. It is a testament to their hard work.”