A thug has been jailed for robbing a convenience store with a fake shotgun and slashing a cashier with a knife.
CCTV images captured Edward Woodbridge, 43, with what appeared to be a shotgun threatening staff at a shop in Surrey Quays on September 12, 2009.
The Metropolitan Police have released dramatic footage of the incident which shows the moment a shopper jumps Woodbridge.
There is a tussle before the offender runs away and escapes on a bicycle with £234 in cash and cigarettes.
Woodbridge, from Catford, appeared at Inner London Crown Court, on Thursday, where he was sentenced to 16 years and three months for possession of an imitation firearm robbery and GBH.
Detective Inspector Gail Lilley, of the Flying Squad, said: “It was sheer luck that the injuries inflicted on the victim were not life threatening, his quick thinking actions in disarming Woodbridge of the knife may well have saved him from even more serious harm.
“I applaud his actions, although, I know from years of investigative experience that the effects of becoming a victim of violent crime can linger far beyond the healing of wounds.
“Woodbridge left the store with some cigarettes and £234, a haul that will cost him 16 years of his freedom, something on which he can reflect as he serves his sentence.”
