Peter Darke suffered broken ribs, a bust nose, and cuts to his eye, ear and lip after being attacked by two thugs
Peter Darke and his Bicycle shop, Darke Cycles in Sunderland(Image: Newcastle Chronicle/ Peter Darke)
A North East shop owner has been left bloodied and bruised after ordering two men to leave his shop. Peter Darke suffered broken ribs, a bust nose, and cuts to his eye, ear and lip after being attacked by two thugs who tried to make off with an £80 motorcycle helmet.
The 65-year-old, who opened Darke Cycles in Sunderland 43 years ago, says it is the worst incident he has encountered since he opened the bicycle shop after being made redundant at the age of 19.
Peter said: “It’s the worst I’ve had in all these years. In retail you might get a punch or verbal. But I thought I’m not going to let this kid get away with pinching a helmet.”
Peter said it was around 4pm on Tuesday, January 20, when two men, believed to be aged in their 20s, caught Peter’s attention as they entered Darke Cycles. Growing suspicious of their behaviour and suspecting they were under the influence of drugs, Peter asked the two men to leave to shop.
But Peter said as one of the men reached the door, they swiped an £80 helmet and ran off down the street.
“I noticed two lads come into the shop and one of them almost stumbled as he came in, which drew my attention to him”, said Peter, who was in another room at the time.
“They then headed down towards the back of the shop where there were some motorcycles on display. He picked one of the motorbikes to stand beside and lift it up and I noticed that the weight of the bike practically took him to the ground”, Peter added.
It was at this moment that Peter says he asked the men to leave the shop because they seemed “up to no good”. He added: “I’m not too sure what they came into the shop to do or if it was to misbehave.”
With the support of a customer the men were ushered out of the shop. Peter said: “We had a one-to-one situation where I was trying to get one of them out and he was trying to get the other one out. It wasn’t physical, we weren’t pushing and shoving. It was more verbal.
“I get mine towards the front door and as he’s near the door he grabs a motorcycle helmet and runs out the door with it.”
He added: “I knew the state he was in by the way he had been falling over in the shop etc. and he can’t run far so he ran off down the street pursued by me.”
Peter, who has reported the incident to the police, said the incident was captured on video by a member of the public and later shared on TikTok. It captures the other man running towards Peter and the shoplifter, before the pair launch an attack on Peter in the street.
Peter said: “In hindsight some might say you shouldn’t have pursued the shoplifters. But then are you just supposed to let them take what they want? When it’s your own business it makes a big difference.”
“People shouldn’t be able to get away with it”, he added.
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