Shopkeeper pistol-whipped and knifed by robbers attacks 'lenient' sentences

A store owner who along with his son fought off two armed robbers told today of his disgust at the "lenient" sentences given to the pair.

Victim Dogan Sahin, 46, had a gun pointed to his head, while the attacker's 15-year-old accomplice - armed with a large knife - ordered him to hand over cash from the till.

But the shopkeeper's 25-year-old son Yilmaz, who had been at the back of the premises, immediately leapt to his father's defence.

They wrestled with the attackers, who repeatedly pistol-whipped and stabbed them before being forced out of the shop and running off.

Levi Ingram, 20, was sentenced to nine years in prison after admitting the attack on the Gonca corner shop at Finsbury Park in January.

He also admitted raiding another shop in Kentish Town, where he and his accomplice made off with £300 just 10 minutes earlier.

Ingram pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, possession of an imitation firearm and grievous bodily harm.

Denzel Sasa, now 16, who admitted the same charges, was given six years behind bars.

Mr Sahin, a grandfather of four who had put his life savings into the shop, and his son were treated in hospital for cuts and bruises.

They had only been open for eight months when they were targeted.

Mr Sahin, who saved up £20,000 during the 22 years when he worked as a mini-cab driver, said he was unhappy with the jail terms.

"It is not enough," he said. "These men should have been given much longer. They will come out and just do it again.

"What happened to us was terrible. I am still suffering. I am on pills and go to the doctors all the time. I cannot sleep.

"My son Yilmaz is OK but we have lost business because of what happened and we are still suffering."

CCTV footage released by the police in an attempt to catch the robbers showed the dramatic moments of the attempted raid.

Sasa was finally charged after police used fingerprint evidence they had gathered from the Kentish Town shop.

Ingram was picked up by detectives three months later after his image was recognised when the case featured on the BBC1 programme Crimewatch.

Although Mr Sahin expressed disappointment at the length of the jail terms, Detective Cons- table Dawn Bolitho, from the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad branch leading the investigation, yesterday told Blackfriars crown court she was pleased that the sentences "reflect the severity of these offences".

She added: "Ingram and Sasa showed no hesitation in using extreme violence in their attempt to rob the Gonca supermarket in Finsbury Park.

"It is very lucky that the shopkeeper and his son were not seriously injured.

"They had robbed another shop moments earlier and I have no doubt they would have continued targeting similar premises had they not been caught."