http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/10578225._/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?
A masked man wields clawhammer having just dumped the till on his cowering victim behind
TERRIFYING footage of a claw hammer attack on a Gravesend post office worker during a botched robbery has been released by police.
At around 2.15pm on July 2 two masked men burst into the Valley Parade post office in Valley Road and a third criminal followed moments later before closing the shop door behind him.
While one member of staff cowered behind the counter, an offender grabbed another female shop worker and held her round the neck while striking her on the head twice with a claw hammer.
She was then violently shoved behind the counter causing her to fall backwards smacking her head as she fell.
One of the men attempted to smash the window in front of the counter with a sledge hammer while the other stepped over the victim as she lay on the floor.
He then attempted to rip open the shop till but when he couldn’t manage it he dropped the till onto the victim.
The offenders arrived in a stolen black Audi A3 taken from a house in Sidcup during an overnight burglary on June 25 to 26 while a mother and her two young children slept upstairs.
The car was fitted with cloned number plates and at 9.15am on the morning of the robbery it was involved in a road traffic accident in Crayford after which the vehicle failed to stop.
After the attempted robbery the offenders made off empty handed in the Audi which was abandoned in nearby Bourne Road.
At the time of the incident Arun Thiyagarajah, 45, told News Shopper he was shocked to return from the cash and carry to find police had taped off his shop, Save On Mini Market.
The female shopworker is grabbed by her attacker as another post office employee cowers behind the counter.
He said "It’s mad, it’s crazy for it to happen in the middle of the day.
"They smashed the glass with the hammer.
"It happened so quick, in about a minute so not many people saw what happened.
"It was very busy at that time. The parade has a lot of shops and a lot of people use it."
The footage featured on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme on Thursday (July 25).
Anyone with any information should call the Kent Police incident room on 01474 330508.