These are the terrifying scenes when a TV antiques expert was hit over the head with a hammer after bravely confronting two robbers who stole more than £100,000 worth of jewellery from his store.
The attack on Ian Towning, one of London’s best-known dealers, was captured on CCTV during the minute-long raid last Tuesday lunchtime.
He told The Mail on Sunday that he believes his appearances as a guest expert on Dickinson’s Real Deal on ITV and Channel 4’s Posh Pawn made him a target.
‘The doctors told me that I am lucky to be alive,’ he said. The ordeal began when his security guard Mark Simmons, 58, spotted two balaclava-clad men outside the Chelsea store on a monitor.
Mr Simmons challenges them but is struck on the head and knocked unconscious. Footage then shows the robbers unsuccessfully trying to smash the main display cabinet’s reinforced glass with a sledgehammer.
Two balaclava-clad men were spotted approaching the Chelsea store on a CCTV monitor
The ordeal began when his security guard Mark Simmons, 58, spotted two balaclava-clad men. He is seen here challenging them
The men got past Mr Simmons and made their way into the store, unsuccessfully trying to smash the main display cabinet’s reinforced glass with a sledgehammer
Les Barrett looks on in horror as the thugs burst inside the boutique and get to work
Mr Towning puts his arms out as one of the thugs mercilessly batters him with a claw hammer
Mr Towning said his partner Les ‘was trying to pin me to the floor to stop me getting hurt again’ during the altercation
‘I was lucky, my injuries could have been much worse, though I am still in a lot of pain,’ Mr Towning said
Pictures show the damage done to display cabinets in the aftermath of the hammer attack
A close-up picture of the alleged thief’s face
At the time Mr Towning, 76, was on the other side, and he reaches for a button to bring down steel shutters on the shop door, but is too late.
Seconds later the robbers burst inside and push past Mr Towning’s terrified partner, 77-year-old Les Barrett, while shouting ‘get on the f****** floor’.
Mr Towning refuses and tries to block the pair from reaching a display crammed with £1 million worth of antique jewellery.
It is then that he is bludgeoned with the claw hammer, leaving him with a gashed forehead and bruising.
Still he refuses to go down and tries to confront his attacker again, only this time he is punched in the face.
One of the robbers is then seen reaching inside the display window and shovelling gems, including a sapphire and diamond necklace, into a small rucksack.
‘I wasn’t going to let anyone steal my jewels without a fight, that’s just the way I am,’ Mr Towning said in an interview at his Surrey home after being released from hospital.
Security guard Mr Simmons was covered in blood after the violent ordeal on Tuesday
Blood is seen streaming down Mr Towning’s face in the aftermath of the violent attack
Some of the horrific injuries sustained by Mr Towning during the brutal attack on Tuesday
Stitches on the head injury sustained by security guard Mr Simmons during the hammer raid
‘I was lucky, my injuries could have been much worse, though I am still in a lot of pain.
‘Les was trying to pin me to the floor to stop me getting hurt again. But I felt this great anger.
‘It probably wasn’t until later I realised just how serious it was – the doctors said the hammer blows could have killed me.’
But he added defiantly: ‘Since the robbery, people keep telling us that now is surely the time to give up, but we’re not going to let them beat us.’
The raid on Mr Towning’s store, Bourbon Hanby Arcade, typifies a disturbing crime trend that has beset London.
Mr Downing said he believes his appearances as a guest expert on Dickinson’s Real Deal on ITV and Channel 4 ‘s Posh Pawn made him a target
The raid on Mr Towning’s store, Bourbon Hanby Arcade, typifies a disturbing crime trend that has beset London
Antique jewellery expert Ian Towning, with partner Les Barrett owners of Bourbon Hanby Arcade
Antiques dealers across the capital have told of how robberies have soared and blame highly professional gangs who use tracking devices when scoping potential victims.
‘Robbers can’t rob banks any longer because they are too secure, so we are now the ones on the frontline,’ said Mr Towning, who believes he and Mr Barrett may have been followed by the robbers several weeks ago.
Detective Sergeant Richard Hall, leading the investigation, said: ‘If you know anything, or have witnessed anything suspicious in the Sydney Street area at the time, then please come forward to police by calling 101 stating CAD 2933/26Mar.’
