Man's horror as thug rips gold chains from his neck outside shop in Sheffield

Karl Drabble was just leaving The Food Warehouse store at Heeley Retail Park when the thief came up behind him and tore the jewellery loose before running off.

Karl gave chase but – hindered by the fact he was wearing sandals and was recovering from a badly sprained ankle – was unable to catch the crook, who headed past Costa and towards the alleyway behind B&M.

"I felt something pushing me and at first I thought it was my wife, Jane, messing about,” said the 58-year-old cleansing operative from Norton Lees.

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"Suddenly I felt this tugging sensation and when it gave way I put my hand to my neck and my chains had disappeared.

"I spun round and saw this guy looking at me before he ran off with the chains wrapped around his hands.

"I wasn’t hurt but I’m still in a bit of shock because I didn’t think anything like that could happen in broad daylight in Sheffield.”

Police have appealed for information following the robbery, which happened on Saturday, June 5, at around 3pm.

Karl described the robber as a man in his 30s with a slim build and light-brown ‘scraggly’ hair which came down to just above his shoulders, who was wearing a burgundy T-shirt and khaki combat shorts.

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He said onlookers had earlier seen the thief talking to a woman wearing a white one-shouldered vest top outside Currys, and after appealing for information online was told a pair matching that description had attempted to shoplift at the Co-op on Lees Hall Avenue, in nearby Norton Lees, around an hour earlier.

Karl estimates that the nine-carat gold chains are worth £600-700 between them and he has already visited pawnbrokers in the area asking them to look out for the jewellery.

Luckily, a gold encrusted saber-toothed tiger pendant, given to him by his dad, came loose as the chains were stolen and he was able to retrieve that but he said both the stolen chains had great sentimental value.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting the incident number 558 of June 5.