Napier dairy owner gives armed robber whack with garden hoe

Manmohan Singh, gardening completed, back at the Te Awa Store counter a few hours after using his hoe to whack a robber. Photo / Warren Buckland

A robber has fled the latest heist at a Napier dairy after being knocked to the ground with a garden hoe wielded by the proprietor's father-in-law.

Manmohan Singh was tending the cauliflower in the garden at the rear of the Te Awa Store when he was alerted by his daughter-in-law as she retreated from the shop when she saw a man in the shop with a knife forcing his way into the area behind the counter.

Singh was able to hit out as the robber fled from the front door towards Ellison St.

The man, who had taken a quantity of tobacco and cigarettes, fell to the ground but was able to get to his feet and run off.

It is not the first time robbers have had to take to their scrapers as the owners fight back. The shop has been targeted by robbers several times over the years, most famously in August 2016 when Singh and son Sukhjinder Pal grabbed a hockey stick and a table leg to ward off two robbers armed with a claw hammer and a crowbar.

On that occasion, a fight behind the counter and the disarming of the man wielding the crowbar were captured on CCTV images which were later widely viewed on social media.

Police were quickly on the scene on Tuesday and were understood to have interviewed two customers who were in or near the shop when the robbery happened.

Business was brisk with after-school customers when Hawke's Bay Today called, one saying she hadn't heard of the incident but she was disappointed, saying: "I shop here. I'm a local. This man, his son, his daughter-in-law, the whole family ... they are beautiful people."

Police had early tonight not announced any arrests and said inquiries were continuing.

Robbery with the use of a weapon is aggravated robbery and punishable with up to 14 years' jail.