A STOCKTON businessman has been left with a gash to his left arm after he was stabbed by an armed intruder during a frantic attempt to rob a take-away store.
As Paul Philpott recovered in John Hunter Hospital on Friday from stab wounds inflicted the night before, his wife Liesl vowed “we won’t be beaten”, and opened Stockton Tackle & Bait business as usual.
The intruder – who was wearing a balaclava, a high-visibly shirt and armed with a wooden baton and large knife – was still at large on Friday after fleeing the scene on Fullerton Street in a white Toyota Camry.
The man had entered the store about 7pm and demanded cash from the register.
Luckily, an employee cooking at a deep fryer was out of the intruder’s line of sight, and managed to race into the adjoining house to raise the alarm.
“I got my husband out of bed, I said ‘get out of bed now, we’re being robbed’,” Mrs Philpott said.
“Paul’s basically jumped up, picked up his metal baseball bat that was right next to the till and started swinging.
“It was all very, very fast.”
The intruder made off with a wallet belonging to one of the shop’s regular customers, before making a dash to the getaway Camry parked one street back from the store.
By that time, Mrs Philpott armed herself – “I might be short, but I’m pretty feisty” – and gave chase.
“I had the whole street, everyone started to chase this guy,” Mrs Philpott said.
Mr Philpott was stabbed during the chase, but managed to return serve by swinging the bat to strike the man’s cheek.
The man, described as being about six-foot-tall and “so, so jittery”, was reportedly driven away by a male driver and accompanied by a female passenger.
Mrs Philpott praised her neighbours and customers for backing them up as the ordeal unfolded.
“We just wanted to protect our customers, our girls who were working for us and what was ours. Simple,” she said.
“We want everyone to feel safe in our community, and we had a community behind us.”
In a separate robbery on Thursday night, a man allegedly held up the Shell service station on Brunker Road, Broadmeadow, with a rifle.
Police said the man, who is believed to be between 25 and 40 years old, was last seen heading in the direction of Adamstown with stolen cash and cigarettes.
