Elderly Manchester jewellers fight off armed robber in terrifying footage

A couple of grandparents from Manchester who own a jewellery shop have revealed how they fought off an armed robber.

Malcolm Abelson, 78, and his wife Elise, 73, spoke of how ‘the adrenaline kicked in’ when they confronted an armed robber as he tried to steal a necklace and diamond bracelet from their shop in St Ann’s Arcade.

During a scuffle the man attempted to hit Mr Abelson with a claw hammer before he was overpowered. Mrs Abelson said: “He must have thought two old people were an easy target.”

The couple, who have four children and 10 grandchildren, said the man had visited the city centre shop earlier that morning before returning an hour-and-a-half later — The BBC reports.

“He asked to look at a necklace and diamond bracelet and he said they were for his girlfriend,” Mrs Abelson said.

“As I was showing him them I realised he was wearing thick black plastic gloves, and then he tried to snatch them. He said ‘give them to me’, but there was no way in the world I was going to give him them.”

It was at this point Mr Abelson realised what was happening and confronted the assailant, who suddenly pulled out a claw hammer. Mrs Abelson said: “I set the panic alarm off and was screaming the police are coming.”

She said her husband was able to get the thief outside before he ran away, dropping his phone, hat and the hammer. “I don’t think he expected us to do what we did. But the adrenaline kicked in,” she said. “I look back and think it was stupid really. Why did we do that? He could have had a knife. I don’t know what made us do it.”

The shop was originally founded by Mr Abelson’s grandfather Julius Abelson in 1895 and the family have run the business ever since. Mr Abelson, who had a quadruple heart bypass four years ago, has worked in the shop since he was 16 years old.

Mrs Abelson, who has worked at the shop for 40 years, said the pair had experienced crime at the store in the past but this was the first time they had faced an armed robbery. “We’ve had the odd snatch and grab but we’ve never had an armed attack like this,” she said.

“It’s happened now, and we carry on. Thankfully it is very rare.” She said they were both left shaken but unhurt and continued to open the shop as usual on Tuesday March 14th.

After CCTV footage of the incident was shared on Twitter by the couple’s grandson, several social media users described Mr Abelson as a ‘hero’.

One woman tweeted: “Well done that man, deserves a medal, you should be very proud.”

Greater Manchester Police confirmed officers were investigating the incident.