Detectives hunt for masked robber who attacked shopkeeper with meat cleaver
Weapon narrowly missed victim’s face
Detectives are searching for a robber who terrorised a shopkeeper with a meat cleaver in east London.
The masked man entered the newsagent in Forest Gate just after 2pm on 1 July.
He threatened the shopkeeper with the cleaver for the sake of £40 in the till.
Before leaving, the attacker swung the weapon towards the victim’s face but narrowly missed.
The Metropolitan Police has released a CCTV photo of the man as detectives have launched an appeal.
The man is of a large build and has a circular shaped tattoo on the inside of his right forearm.
Anyone who may know the man’s identity is asked to call police via 101 quoting reference CAD 2607/03Jul or tweet @MetCC, or Crimestoppers anonymously.
In April this year, a man was arrested after a police officer was slashed with a machete in Forest Gate.
The incident happened while officers were attending reports of an armed man “suffering a mental health crisis” at a property.
About seven hours after the attack, the Metropolitan Police arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder of the police officer.
The man had sustained a knife injury to his neck, which is believed to have been self-inflicted – the Met said, adding that first aid was administered and the man has been taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service.