By Meera Majithia

Dozens of customers and well-wishers have offered their kind words of support to the traumatised owners of a jewellery shop in Leicester.
On Saturday, November 27th, two masked raiders barged into Birstall Jewellers on Sibson Road, Leicester and stole between £60,000 - £70,000 worth of stock.
Owners Lata Shah and her husband Hasmukh were both in the shop when the horrific incident took place.
When they had first heard the shop door open Mrs Shah thought it was a regular customer. Within seconds one robber held a knife to her chest and told her not to move, while the other man smashed the front window with a hammer and started grabbing the jewellery trays.
Mrs Shah, 48, said: “I was just frozen. I held up my hands saying I won’t do anything – it all happened so fast.”
The two men dashed out of the shop with multiple trays of gold rings and took off in a getaway vehicle driven by a third man.
The couple have been left so traumatised since the raid that they have started to keep their door locked, only opening it after customers press the buzzer to come inside.
Mrs Shah added: “It was our 30th wedding anniversary on the day and I had plans to cook a special meal at home – but after what happened we couldn’t do anything.”
Mr Shah, 52, has over 20 years experience in the jewellery trade having previously worked in stores across Leicester before opening up Birstall Jewellers four years ago.
He said: “At Christmas time in December, with the combined sales for the whole month, you tend to pull in more business than the whole year. But now our main stock and main attraction is gone.”
The gold rings which were stolen were all individually selected by Mr Shah. The couple have already had to turn away customers who had previously seen items they wanted to purchase in the shop window.
Centered in a very tight-knit community in Birstall, the Shah family have had continued support from the residents living nearby.
Speaking to the Asian Express in the shop whilst handing over a bunch of flowers to Mrs Shah, customer Tina Walker, said: “We come in to the shop quite often. It’s dreadful, absolutely shocking and sad that people like these can’t open their own door because they’re frightened.”
Though insurance will cover most of the monetary losses to the shop, Mrs Shah added: “You don’t get everything back – how can we trust anybody who comes in now.”

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