Masked men held knife to barber's throat and threatened to kill him during robbery
Two masked men armed with weapons burst into a hairdresser's and held a knife to a barber's throat before stealing hundreds of pounds in cash.
Gary Lee Campbell was alone at his barber shop in Wombourne when the robbers made their move at around 5.20pm last Friday.
When he saw the first man enter holding a knife, he managed to grab his wrist and hit him to the floor.
But he was then set upon by a second masked man, who was also armed with a knife as he entered the shop and slashed him to his chest, arm and leg.
Gary, from Trysull, said the man held the knife to his neck, before threatening to kill him if he moved.
The pair raided a till and rifled through Gary's pockets, finding around £700 before fleeing the scene on electric bikes.
Gary, who required stitches to his leg and tetanus jabs following the ordeal, said adrenaline had taken over at the time but he had been left feeling "numb".
"One masked guy came through the door with gloves on, he had a knife," said Gary, who has been a barber for almost 50 years and has owned the Gary Lee barber shop in Planks Lane for 28 years.
"I grabbed his wrist so tightly he dropped the knife, smashed him in the ribs and hit him to the floor.
"I didn't know his mate was outside too. He came in after hearing his friend shouting in pain.
"He was also masked with gloves on and a knife and slashed me in the chest, arm and leg.
"I moved round to stop him getting me more but he got the knife to my neck and said 'If you move, I'll kill you'.
"I let go of his friend who got the money out of the till. They noticed I had money in my pockets too and took that.
"The guy moved the knife and I hit him in the face hard – I definitely broke his jaw, I heard a crack."
Gary said he called the police within a few minutes of the men leaving and later drove himself to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley.
"Now I just feel numb," Gary added.
"You just think 'did that really happen?' I can't believe it did, but I've got the slashes to prove it. I needed stitches and jabs, but I could've been dead.
"Wombourne is a nice village but there just aren't enough police."
The robbery happened at 5.20pm on Friday, February 24.
Staffordshire Police is appealing for information as it investigates the robbery.
Any witnesses or those who may have CCTV or dashcam footage of the area at the time are asked to get in touch with Staffordshire Police. Call 101 quoting incident 579 of 24 February.
