Thug held blade to throat of store owner’s wife as he demanded cash.

A ROBBER who held a samurai sword to the throat of a terrified woman as he stole hundreds of pounds from a shop is being hunted by police.

The thug walked into 5 Sapphires newsagents in Kynaston Road, Stoke Newington, at around 5.50pm on Tuesday November 23 brandishing the three-foot blade.

Sinnar Nadaneswaran, owner, said: “I was doing some accounting below the till and then I noticed this man all covered up come in with a huge knife.

“He put it against my wife’s throat and said ‘give me the money, quick’. I had no choice but to give him everything.

“It was very scary but he was only in here for about one-and-a-half minutes yet he made off with about �415.”

The thug then dashed out of the shop and turned left into Kersley Road. He was last spotted running along Kynaston Road down the alleyway leading to Stoke Newington High Street.

A resident of Kynaston Road found a sword in his front garden and called police who seized the weapon.

The suspect is described as aged 35-40, 6ft 2ins tall, wearing a cream top, black jogging bottoms, a red face mask and black leather gloves.

He was described as fat but was wearing a puffa jacket and therefore may have appeared larger than normal.

DI Glenn Butler of Hackney’s robbery squad said: “This is a very unusual offence where a Samurai sword has been used to threaten the shop keeper and his wife.

“The offence happened in Kynaston Road at around 5.50pm, which would be a busy time for people coming home from work.

“If you saw anything suspicious or saw a male fitting the description around the time of the offence then please contact the investigation team or Crimestoppers.”

Anyone with any information is requested to email hackneypolice@met.police.uk or call 020 7275 3232.

Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111.