Shopkeeper: I opened my jacket to show my chest and told gunman to shoot me

First victim: Erchan Bahceci challenged robbers at his shop in Tufnell Park
Felix Allen12 April 2012

A shopkeeper told today of the moment he faced down two armed robbers minutes before they were repelled from a second shop in a struggle with a father and son.

Ercan Bahceci, 40, challenged the gunman to "shoot me" when the robber and a knife-wielding accomplice raided his convenience store in Tufnell Park. He escaped unhurt as the pair made off with about £300.

Minutes later the same two men are believed to have stormed into the Gonca corner shop two miles away in Blackstock Road, Finsbury Park.

Shopkeeper Dogan Sahin, 46, was stabbed in the shoulder and his son Yilmaz, 25, was pistol-whipped as they fought back against the robbers, who fled empty-handed. The fight was captured on CCTV.

Detectives have linked the two raids, which took place at 9.37pm and 9.45pm on December 21. Today, Mr Bahceci told how the robbers ran into his store, My Shop, opposite Tufnell Park Tube station. He said: "One of them held a gun to my assistant Shaban's head as he was crouching down to a shelf. The other man came behind the counter and held a knife up against my body and said, 'Give me money'.

"I took a few hundred pounds from the till, put it on the counter and tried to step away. But the one with the gun came after me and shouted to put the money in a bag. I refused. I said, 'I'm not going to rob my own shop. You're the robber, that's your job'.

"He was pointing the gun at my face and said he would shoot me if I didn't do it, but I opened my jacket to show my chest and said, 'shoot me'. The guy told me I was mad.

"Eventually he understood I wouldn't put the money in the bag, so he did it himself, grabbed some cigarettes and ran away."

Mr Bahceci, who is married with four children aged six to 16, said: "It was very scary when I saw the gun. I thought they will shoot Shaban or me. But the end is the end, if your time comes what can you do?"

The robbers are described as black men aged about 20-25. They may have used a dark-coloured Vauxhall Astra. Anyone with information is asked to call police on 020 8358 1751 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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