Shopkeeper picks up candy tin, fights off robber

  • 26/11/2017

A service station owner in regional Queensland has taken on a machete-wielding bandit with a lolly tin.

When the masked man stormed the store near Caboolture demanding money, Ratan Raju picked up the closest thing he could and fought back.

Waving the machete in Mr Raju's face, the bandit thinks he's picked an easy target. But the shopkeeper has other ideas, picking up a container of Milko's and launching it at the robber's head, sending him on a sugar rush out the door.

Arming himself with a packet of Pringles and pot of honey, CCTV shows Mr Raju taking the fight outside.

"I wacked him on his head and then he ran further so I ran closer to the garbage bin and I gave it to him on his back," Mr Raju told 7 News.

"He was coming back with a knife, so I got this chair and I said 'come on, bring it on'."

Mr Raju was protecting his wife and children who were in the back room, as well as the business he has poured his heart and soul in to.

"I work 14 hours a day, seven days a week, no one is just going to come in and grab my sweat and my blood off me," he added.

It's not the first time Mr Raju has stopped a robbery.  The last time the Australian Navy Veteran came across a thief, he knocked them out cold.

As for the would-be robber who got away, Mr Raju had a very clear message if he comes back.

"He'll be sleeping on that ground, I swear."

7 News