Heroic hairdresser foils jewellery heist by confronting robbers

Sarah Kane was working at Edwards Barbers, in Osborne Road, when two men attempted to smash through the window of Young George Jewellers yesterday morning.

Without a second thought for her safety, the heroic hairdresser charged out and confronted the thugs – who were armed with pick axes.

The defiant 32-year-old screamed at bystanders to start filming the men who were furiously trying to break the hardened glass.

A crowd of about 40 people soon gathered to watch the commotion, with many heeding Sarah’s plea, recording the robbers on their phone.

The crooks – wearing white overalls, gloves and masks – abandoned their heist, fleeing empty-handed in a grey car, which they later torched in nearby Stanley Lane.

Recounting the drama, Sarah said: ‘I went over there to scare them off. I couldn’t believe what they were doing. It was pathetic.

‘I ran across the road, about a metre and a half away from them and started swearing and telling them to go away, telling people to take pictures and call the police.

‘It was quite nerve-wracking and scary but I didn’t want the jewellery to get stolen.’

When asked if she thought she was a hero, she said: ‘No, I just wanted them to get stopped. I don’t really think of myself as a hero.’

The attack took place at about 11.17am. The robbers drove down Portland Road and stopped outside the diamond merchants.

Sarah and her colleague Linda Metcalfe, saw the men drive past them in the minutes leading up to the heist.

Linda, who dialled 999 when the attack began, said ‘I was scared and shaken up But there were loads of children out, that was the scariest thing.’

Police are now hunting the two suspects and a third person, believed to have been driving the getaway car. The two attackers were wearing white ‘forensic-style’ overalls, yellow gloves and white overshoes, police said.

One of the men was wearing a grey T-shirt under the overalls, while the other is believed to have been wearing a light blue hooded top.

A Hampshire police spokeswoman said: ‘There may have been a third person driving.

‘We’d particularly like to hear from anyone who saw the car being driven away.’

Call police on 101.