A have-a-go-hero is lucky to be alive after fighting off a gunman who fired three shots during a bungled robbery last Tuesday night (March 3), writes OWEN PHILLIPS.

Miraculously all three shots missed and the gunman and his accomplice fled with only a set of keys.

The 54-year-old man had just left the Needles and Rings tattoo shop in Stafford Road with the female owner around 8.10pm when two men confronted them and demanded cash.

The man flatly refused and lunged for the gunman. In the ensuing scuffle two shots were fired and the gun then jammed. As the man turned and ran off a third shot was fired. The second would-be robber smashed the woman over the head and knocked her to the ground. Both attackers then ran off into Epsom Road with only a set of keys.

DS David Astill told the Guardian: "He had an amazing escape and is lucky to be alive. It seemed the gun jammed which delayed the gunman and he somehow managed to miss with all three shots."

He added: "The victim is extremely fortunate but the man is obviously very dangerous and we are appealing for any witnesses to come forward."

The woman was treated at Mayday Hospital for shock, but the man was unharmed.

The gunman is black, about 6ft 3in tall with a slender, athletic build and the accomplice is black, about 5ft 8in tall and of stocky build.

Both were wearing woolly hats.

Anyone with any information should contact Croydon CID on 0181 649 0131.

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