Hammer gang attack newsagent

A newsagent was set upon by a gang wielding a hammer and hockey sticks in a terrifying attack after asking two teenagers to stop swigging lager in his Black Country store.

The four thugs also trashed £3,000 worth of stock when they went on the rampage in Coseley News & Wines, in Bourne Street, Coseley – but his wife says police have told victim Parmeshar Dass not to expect any arrests. Mr Dass' wife Praveena Chauhan, aged 38, said violence erupted minutes after her husband asked the teenagers to leave the store.

It happened just before 7pm on Friday.

She said: "There were two 18 to 20-year-olds drinking cans of lager in the shop and my husband told them they weren't allowed to do that.

"They were being verbally abusive but went outside and he thought nothing of it.

"Then one of them said he was going to phone his father 'to sort him out'.

"They came back with another man and a girl. The man came in with a massive hammer and started hitting my husband's head while his son grabbed him and smashed the other side of his head with a glass bottle.

"His parents and brother heard him shouting and came to help, but they hit out at them as well – my mother-in-law is 65."

"I just cannot believe somebody can come into a shop with a hammer and hit four people, hurting somebody quite severely – especially as it was still light."

The gang then used hockey sticks to smash £3,000 worth of stock before fleeing the store, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake, it has emerged.

Mr Dass, aged 35, called police immediately and gave a statement before he was taken to Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, where his head wounds were patched up. He is still suffering headaches and was too groggy to talk about his ordeal today.

Officers told him that they would return yesterday to take statements from his parents and brother but have since said they will not be back until Saturday.

Ms Chauhan also claims that the police warned Mr Dass that they would not be making any arrests.