She was present in her shop with her nephew when an armed robber entered.
A brave grandmother from Glasgow assisted her nephew in tackling a robber. On December 27, 2021, Roseann Gibson was working at Browns in the city with her nephew Christopher Brown when a masked man arrived. Christopher, 26, pushed George Kinnear to the ground while demanding cash from the staff. CCTV captured the moment Christopher leaped over the counter, with Roseann, 63, rushing in seconds later to aid her nephew hold the burglar to the ground, per Daily Record.
Roseann and her nephew managed to hold the 45-year-old tied down until police came, only to discover he also had a knife hidden in his pocket in addition to carrying a hammer. Kinnear, a veteran of the armed forces, appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court and confessed to attempted armed robbery, threatening violence, and waving a hammer at Christopher. Roseann told the outlet, "When I watched the CCTV back, I was shocked. I just can’t believe I did it. A lot of things have changed since it happened. Before, I would never have thought twice about standing outside the shop early in the morning while we wait to open up which I’ve done for 42 years. But now I wait in my car across the road."
4ft 11in grandmother, 63, tackles hammer-wielding thief in botched newsagent raid https://t.co/7S5qOj10NR
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) September 21, 2022
She added that she feels "scared and angry" and that, "this is the first time something as bad as this has happened." She added, "There is a panic button right behind where Christopher was standing but his instincts took over. He said he just saw the hammer and thought about me while I was thinking about him." She recalled, "Christopher and myself opened up the shop that morning and it was about 7.50 am. He had set up the papers and a lady came in." The lady had a bag of presents for her grandson and she started speaking to her while tidying up the magazines behind the counter. She heard somebody come in but dismissed it as a customer. However, she soon heard and saw Newspapers being thrown out. "That’s when I looked and saw the guy had a hammer," she said.
Grandmother Roseann Gibson who is just 4ft 11in toppled a hammer-wielding thief and sat on him until police cuffed him.https://t.co/IQ9ExJLGKo
— Metro (@MetroUK) September 21, 2022
She explained, "By that time, Christopher had thrown the papers over and diverted him. He was coming with the hammer. I managed to get the guy down using the side of my body but by that time, Christopher had flown over the counter to throw a plastic perspex screen. He got him down and we sat on him. I must admit, although I say we sat on him, it was pretty hard because he was trying to get up while we were trying to keep him down."
Grandma just 4ft 11in sat on hammer-wielding thief and foiled terrifying raid https://t.co/rtnrry9cWj
— BusinessNews (@USNewsRankcom) September 21, 2022
She took the "balaclava" off the robber's face to see if she recognized him. She said, "I did recognize him — not as a good customer but someone who had been in the shop before. We just held him down. He obviously let go of the hammer and Mrs. Callaghan lifted it which you can see in the video. She was obviously giving him mouth."
She continued, "I never normally had my phone on me in the shop but I did that morning because I had been pricing something. Lucky enough, I managed to hold him down with me on top of Christopher and phoned the police."
"I still can’t believe that this happened."
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Cover Image Source: Daily Record/Youtube