Armed robber foiled by lettuce-wielding pensioner

[FuManChu]

Man, 82, hits robber with lettuce (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6601655.stm)

An 82-year-old man wielding a bag of shopping has driven an armed robber from a village post office. George Smith hit the man twice with a bag containing an iceberg lettuce and bottles of bleach and washing liquid.

The masked raider, who had a shotgun, fled from the shop in Speldhurst, near Tunbridge Wells, Kent, leaving the takings untouched. Police praised Mr Smith for his bravery, but did not recommend other people followed his actions.

Officers are linking the attempted robbery to three other raids in the area since 7 April. They include raids on a nature reserve and fish farm in Hawkhurst, Kent, and a One-Stop shop in Sidley, East Sussex.

Mr Smith was in the Speldhurst post office just before 1300 BST on Friday. Det Insp John Claydon said a man aged in his 20s walked in, armed with a shotgun and with his face covered by a hood and a dust mask.

"Before he had a chance to say anything at all, this elderly gentleman whacked him with a carrier bag which had a lettuce amongst other things in it," Det Insp Claydon said. "Bearing in mind his age, I can do nothing but congratulate him for what he did. But obviously from a police perspective we wouldn't be looking to encourage people to act as George did."

Mr Smith himself said his actions were "entirely automatic". "The best method of defence is attack - so I did. I whacked him in the face and then I clobbered him again. He ran off down to the corner still with the gun pointing my way. I took a couple of paces towards him and told him to clear off. And he did."

Police said the armed man fled along Barden Road.

[Shingy]

Damn, well now this has only just made me realise the danger of groceries, i got to get me some lettuce!

[bd popeye]

I just saw a story on Fox news where an old lady in New York City beat off an attacker with a mini-baseball bat.

Those old ladies are tough! Don't mess with Granny!!!!

[FuManChu]

Some years ago there was an attempted armed robbery on a small village Post Office. This guy ran into the PO and shoved a gun in the postmistress' face, demanding all the money.

Unfortunately the guy was obviously pumping out too much adrenaline and shouting too loud, because he disturbed a sleeping cat on a shelf nearby. For the cat there were only two responses - fight or flight - and because it was in a shelf and thus didn't have anywhere to, decided to launch itself into the air and attach itself to the robber's face. Cats are vicious creatures - they go for the eyes and don't stop. This guy ran outside the Post Office with the cat still latched firmly to his head still biting and scratching. Of course he never came back.

By the way, Popeye, in case you didn't know we don't declaw our cats like a lot of people your side of the Pond do.

[bd popeye]

By the way, Popeye, in case you didn't know we don't declaw our cats like a lot of people your side of the Pond do.

Humm. I know in the land down under it is against the law to declaw cats. Here in the US many people including me and my wife have cats as pets. Contray to popular belief in the US cats are the number one pet. Not dogs.

Since our cats are "indoor" cats...They never go outside. They are declawed in the front. In fact everyone I know with indoor cats have them declawed.

Meow!!! Or should I say ouch!

My Kitty Kats! Reno & Vegas.:D

[Shingy]

Some years ago there was an attempted armed robbery on a small village Post Office. This guy ran into the PO and shoved a gun in the postmistress' face, demanding all the money.

Unfortunately the guy was obviously pumping out too much adrenaline and shouting too loud, because he disturbed a sleeping cat on a shelf nearby. For the cat there were only two responses - fight or flight - and because it was in a shelf and thus didn't have anywhere to, decided to launch itself into the air and attach itself to the robber's face. Cats are vicious creatures - they go for the eyes and don't stop. This guy ran outside the Post Office with the cat still latched firmly to his head still biting and scratching. Of course he never came back.

By the way, Popeye, in case you didn't know we don't declaw our cats like a lot of people your side of the Pond do.

Man i keep hearing how if they attach themselves to your face, they are extremely hard to get off...
I can just imagine the pain of those claws.

[FuManChu]

Since our cats are "indoor" cats...They never go outside. They are declawed in the front. In fact everyone I know with indoor cats have them declawed.

Well we tend not to have "indoor cats" in the UK. Generally we let them go outside, so of course we wouldn't de-claw them.

Personally I can't understand how a cat wouldn't want to go outside!!

[bd popeye]

Well we tend not to have "indoor cats" in the UK. Generally we let them go outside, so of course we wouldn't de-claw them.

Personally I can't understand how a cat wouldn't want to go outside!!

Most everyone I know with a cat has an indoor cat. Trust me there are plenty of outdoor cats in the US. Also plenty of ferrel cats running around loose.

My cats spend endless hous peering out of windows at birds and the like. Once they learn to stay inside they have little desire to venture out of doors.

Why indoor cats?

1) They are cleaner & healthier. No fleas, vermin etc. And are better cared for.

2) They live longer. The average indoor kitty kat lives 11-17 years. The average outdoor cat lives only 3-5 years. Why? Automobiles and humans kill them.

Oh yea, Siamese can live up to 20+ years! I found my Siamese, Vegas, in the parking lot where I live. I left him alone. My then fiance went outside to gather him up. That was more than two years ago. He's here to stay.

The goofy looking other cat, Reno, was purchased on a farm by my now wife in August 2005 for $25 USD.

[FuManChu]

They are cleaner & healthier. No fleas, vermin etc.

Meh, these days it's really easy to treat them - just a little gel type-stuff on the base of the neck and they're good for ages vs fleas. Never had any trouble with "vermin".

They live longer. The average indoor kitty kat lives 11-17 years. The average outdoor cat lives only 3-5 years. Why? Automobiles and humans kill them.

That's unlucky. We've only ever had one cat die from a car accident - another from the feline version of leukemia, which she probably got because she had previously been a stray for years. Her daughter - the current cat (we didn't realise her mum hadn't been neutered) - has been to the vet once to be neutered and that was it.

[bd popeye]

Meh, these days it's really easy to treat them - just a little gel type-stuff on the base of the neck and they're good for ages vs fleas. Never had any trouble with "vermin".....That's unlucky. We've only ever had one cat die from a car accident


I use to have a little dog when I lived in San Diego that had fleas from time to time. We used the perscription strenght flea medicene but the fleas kept comming back. The over the counter crap did not work at all....

Vermin??= Mites, ticks and other assorted critters...

To each his own!

[optionsss]

Cats are really wonderful creatures, I really love them. I used to have a kitty, named "photo"(my suit-mate got him that name). We got it when it was only 1 month old. We never had any experience rising cats before, esp little kittens. So the first week was rough, photo throw-up twice. He really did not like the kitten food, so we dissolved it in the kitten milk. We tried to our best, and luckly everybody made through that period un-hurt. After that, Photo got injured twice by his girl friend. One more lucky thing for Photo, as an indoor cat, is he has plenty of friends to keep him companied. We used to have about 5 cat owners on our floor, and we let them run.