Seven Kings jewellers robbed by sledgehammer-wielding gang reopens

Raj Sadheura

Asha, in High Road, Seven Kings, was robbed in April by five men wielding baseball bats and a sledgehammer who made off with thousands of pounds of jewellery.

Raj Sadheura, whose mother Asha owns the shop, had gone to drop off his son to a French lesson when the men smashed their way into the shop in High Road.

The robbers are yet to be caught.

Mr Sadheura said: “I felt really bad as my parents were there and I wasn’t.

“I got a phone call from a friend saying something is happening in the shop and that’s how I found out, I put my foot on the gas and got back, by that time the police were outside.”

It is believed the five masked men who raided the shop escaped by going through a gap in the fence lining the railways line.

“I saw the police outside and glass everywhere,” said Mr Sadheura. “The place was a complete mess and my mum was standing there compliantly shaken up and my dad was still in shock.”

Following the robbery Mr Sadheura said he hoped to be reopening within six to eight weeks.

“It’s taken longer but now we just want to get the shutters up and open, we have lost a lot of customers and now they can see we are open,” he said.

The jewellery shop was closed for more than three months while modifications to security were made.

Mr Sadheura said: “It’s impacted the business hugely being closed for three months – it’s had a devastating effect.

“Our neighbours have had customers ask for us and them gone elsewhere. We don’t know if they will return.”

The family have been working in the jewellery industry for more than 25 years and despite the robbery have not considered closing the shop or moving away.

Mr Sadheura said: “We are jewellers and that’s out what we are going to be. We just want to put it past us and look to the future.”