Video: Man threatened with 12-inch knife in horrifying newsagent robbery

The incident has been linked to two other similar attacks in the area

The moment the newsagent owner is threatened with the knife (The Metropolitan Police)

This is the shocking moment a newsagent owner in Hounslow, west London was threatened with a 12-inch knife as his shop was robbed by a masked thief.

In CCTV footage released by the Metropolitan Police, the robber waves the blade at the 57-year-old victim before holding the knife to the man’s throat and demanding him to open the till.

The thief then takes the cash from the till and stuffs it into a white cloth bag, along with packets of cigarettes from the shelves behind him.

The store owner was able to press the panic button as the thief was emptying the till, however the robber ran out of the newsagent before he could be caught.

This incident took place on 5 November 2.25pm and has been connected to two other similar attacks in the Hounslow area.

The first robbery took place on 30 October at 6.10pm at a barber shop, where a man was threatened with a 12-inch blade and had his wallet stolen.

The latest attack was carried out on at 6pm last Sunday (9 November), in which another newsagent was targeted, again money and cigarettes were stolen.

Police are now looking for an Asian male aged 20-25, who is about 6ft tall. He was dressed all in black, wearing hooded jumper, jogging bottoms, knitted gloves and trainers with red laces.

Detective Constable David Ward, from Hounslow CID said, "It is imperative that we find this man before he commits further offences and endangers even more innocent people. We have a very good image of the suspect and we are sure that someone will recognise him.

"We believe this is the third knife-point robbery this suspect has committed in a short space of time. We really need help from the public to identify this man. Your information could vital and could stop someone being seriously harmed."

Police are urging anyone with information to contact DC Ward at Hounslow CID on 020 8247 6650 or anonymously on Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Video courtesy of The Metropolitan Police