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.
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.
‘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.
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.’
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
