Shop staff's relief as thugs are jailed

Shop owner Vijay Patel was shot in the leg with a sawn-off shotgun a year ago during a robbery in his store, while sub-postmaster Andrew Teeman, pictured, was struck over the head with a handgun when his premises were raided last June.

The pair spoke today after Imran Ali, 22, and Yasser Rashid, 23, were jailed for 16 years after being convicted of conspiracy to commit armed robberies.

Ali, of Whitby Road, Girlington, Bradford, and Rashid, of Brentwood Drive, Stoney Ridge, Bradford, were charged after a police operation to tackle armed robberies last year.

They were also linked to an incident where security guard Mohammed Bashir was shot in the leg during a raid at the Co-op in Legrams Lane, Bradford, last May.

Mr Patel, of Wine and Dine, in Otley Road, was left with one leg two inches shorter than the other because of the damage to his knee and thigh which were shattered by the gun blast.

Andrew Teeman, who runs Girlington post office, is still taking beta blocker tablets to cope with anxiety attacks he has suffered since the incident.

Talking about the sentencing, Mr Teeman, 48, said: "I hope the length of the sentences will deter others from attempting to do the same. Hopefully I will be able to open my post office in the mornings with a little less apprehension.

"It is very difficult to put into words the overwhelming sense of relief and closure I felt on hearing the news."

Just two months after he was threatened with a gun, Mr Teeman, who is married to Arlene and has two children in their teens, was held at knifepoint by a youth attempting to rob the post office.

But after giving chase with three postmen who were in the area, Mr Teeman caught the offender who was sentenced to three years in a young offenders' institute in January. Mr Teeman said he had received support from customers, staff and other sub-postmasters.

Speaking after the sentencing, Mr Patel said: "It's difficult to put how I feel into words. I feel sorry for the families of the two men